ISH 361 

.U4 
11898 

Copy 1 



SECOND PRELIMINARY REPORT 



OF THE 



BKRlNfi SEA FOR SEAL INfESTlGATKINS 



BY 



DAVID STARR JORDAN 



ASSISTED BY 



LEONHAED STEJNEGER, FREDERIO AUGUSTUS LUOAS, 
AND GEORGE ARCHIBALD OLARK. 



18 9 7. 



WASHINGT'""' ^^ ■ 

xviNTING OFFICE. 
GOVERNMENT t*" 

1898. 



HoUingc 



SECOND PRELIMINARY REPORT 



OF THE 



BERING m FUR SEAL INVESTIGATIONS 



BY 



DAVID STARR JORDAN 



ASSISTED BY 



LEONHAED STEJNEGEE, PREDERIO ATTGUiSTTIS LUCAS, 
AND GEOEGE AEOHIBALD OLAEK. 



18 9 7. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1898. 






Treasury Depa ktm kx7 . 

Docuuieut No. 1994. 

Office 0^' Si'cniary. 



WAY \^ 1913 



i 






OO^TEE-TS. 



Letter of transmittal 5 

Scope of the investigation 7 

Personnel of the commission 8 

Assignment of work 8 

Acknowledgments 8 

Itinerary... 8 

Rookery development - » 

Arrival of bulls - — » 

Arrival of cows 9 

Record of arrival of cows 10 

Changes from day today 10 

Maximum population 11 

Appearance of the breeding grf>unds. 11 

Count of harems. - 1!' 

Photographs not to be relied on 13 

Censusof 1896 - - 13 

Summary of breeding seals Ig 

Revision of census of 189B 13 

Erroneous estimates 13 

Under and over estimates balance ... 13 

Revised census, 1896 1| 

Census of 1897 If 

Nature of tlie problem - l* 

Comparison of counts of cows and 

piips,lH97 - - 15 

Census, 1897. lo 

The work of counting - 16 

Evidences of decline 16 

Actual counts 1896-97..- 16 

Count of pups the only sure basis 16 

Summary of counts 1896-97 li^ 

Abandonment of breeding grounds 17 

Shrinkage not everywhere equally 

visible — 17 

Abandoned territory. 1* 

Shrunken appearance of massed por- ., - 

tions of rookeries - 18 

Falling off in n umber of dead pups . , . 18 

Other evidences of decline 18 

Struggles among bulls, mortality 

among cows 4 18 

Quota of killable seals -1 18 

Further evidence of shrinkage 18 

Statistics of killings. 19 

Reduction in killable seals not an 

actual measure of decrease 31 

Land killing and the decline - 31 

No connection with the decline of the 

herd...- 31 

Numbers of males spared 31 

Contrast between Bering Island and 

thePribilofs 31 

Statistics regarding land and sea kill- 
ing, 1871-1897 - 33 

The cause of the decline - 33 

Pelagic sealing the sole cause 23 

Effects of pelagic sealing on the herd. 33 
High proportion of females in pelagic 

catch -- 33 

Loss through pups starved in 1894 34 

Pelagic sealing and the condition of the 

herd 24 

Future decline of the herd 25 

The fate of pelagic sealing 25 

Pelagic catches 1894-1897 25 

Mortality among nursing pups. 25 

Great mortality prior to August 1 25 

Deaths due to parasitic worm 36 

Recommended treatment of infected 

areas 36 

Percentage of deaths from Uncinaria . 26 



Page. 

Starvation of pups '. 37 

Special study in 1896. 27 

Investigations of 1897. 27 

Every motherless pup starves 27 

Regulations of the Paris award 28 

Branding of pups 28 

Method of branding. 28 

Effectiveness of branding 28 

Branded seals not taken on Asiatic 

side. - - 29 

Herding of the bachelors 29 

Inclosur e of the Salt Lagoon 29 

The food of the fur-seal 30 

Food in Bering Sea 30 

Food ofif the Northwest coast 30 

L^n warrantable assumptions 30 

Proposed slaughter of the fur seals 30 

Would not accomplish the desii-ed 

end .- .- 3(1 

Possible restoration of the herd 30 

Conclusions 31 

Appendix I. 

Report on death of pups from Uncinaria, 

(by Frederic A. Lucas) 33 

Autopsy of first pup secured 33 

Number of pups examined 33 

Duration of the disease 33 

Symptoms 33 

Relations between the disease and 

character of ground - 33 

Why the mortality has been unno- 
ticed - 33 

Cessation of plague - 34 

Summary of dissections on St. Paul. _ 34 

Siimmary of dissections on Tolstoi. .. 34 

Summary of dissections by rookeries. 34 

Pups containing Uncinaria 35 > 

Condition of uncinariated pups 35 

Appendix II. 

Rookeries of the Commander Islands (by 

Leonhard Stejneger) 35 

Bering Island, north rookery 35 

Estimate of number of seals on 

reef 35 

Estimate of number of seals on 

Kishotchnaya - 35 

Bering Island, south rookery - 35 

Number of pups and females 35 

Sufficiency of males for impreg- 
nation - 36 

Copper Island , Glinka rookeries 36 

Death of pups, south rookery, Bering 

Island .- - 36 

Glinka, Copper Island 36 

North rookery, Bering Island 36 

Land catch- 37 

Statistics relative to the fiscal catch 
on the Commander Islands, summer 

of 1897. - 37 

Bering Island drives, north rook- 
ery - - - 37 

South rookery 37 

Copper Island drives. Glinka 37 

Karabelni 38 

Summary of Commander Islands and 
Robben Island catch, summer 1897. . 38 

3 



Appendix III. 



Page, 



Practical Experiments (by Joseph Mur- 
ray) 38 

Herding in the laejoon 38 

Branding- - 39 

Branding does not injure the animalB. 39 

The death traps.. 39 

Dead pups 39 

Appendix IV. 

The control and protection of the salmon 
streams of Alaska ( by David Starr Jor- 
dan and C. L. Hooper) 40 

Recommendations 40 



Appendix V. 



Page. 



Affidavits of dyers and dressers of fur- 
seal skins 42 

Appendix VI. 

The fur-seal conference 44 

Joint statement of conclusions re- 
specting the fur-seal herd frequent- 
ing the Pribilof Islands, in Bering 

Sea .- 44 

Appendix I. Statement regarding 

land and sea killing, 1871-1897. 47 

Appendix II. Record of arrival of 
cows 48 



LETTEE OF TEAISTSMITTAL. 



Leland Stanford Junior University, 

Palo Alto, Cal., November 1, 1897. 
Dear Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith a second brief preliminary report 
on the work of the Bering Sea fur-seal investigation for the season of 1897. This 
will be followed in the course of the coming year by a final report, monographic 
in character, which will take up in detail all phases of the fur-seal question. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

David Starr Jordan. 
Hon. Lyman J. Gage. 

Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C. 



SECOND PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE BERING SEA 
FUR-SEAL INVESTIGATION. 



SCOPE or THE INVESTIGATION. 

The work for the season of 1897 represents a continuation of the investigations 
of 1896. The same comprehensive outline of inquiry-suggested in 1896 by Hon. 
Chai-les S. Hamlin, then Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, in his letter of 
instruction under date of June 13, has this year been followed out. This letter 
was published in full in the preliminary report of last year. It is only necessary 
here to repeat the following paragraph, which contains the gist of the whole 
subject: 

"The principal object of this investigation is to determine by precise and 
detailed observations, tirst, the present condition of the American fur-seal herd; 
second, the nature and imminence of the causes, if any, which a.ppear to threaten 
its extermination ; third, what, if any , benefits have been secured to the herd throvigh 
the operation of the act of Congress and act of Parliament based upon the award 
by the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration; fourth, what, if any, additional protective 
measures on land or at sea, or changes in the present system of regulations as to 
the closed season, prohibited zone, prohibition of firearms, etc., are required to 
insure the preservation of the fur-seal herd. '' 

The most important part of the work for 1897 has been to ascertain, by a dupli- 
cation of the census of 1896, the changes which have taken place on the rookeries 
of St. Paul and St. George Island and to trace their causes. In addition to this 
work of making the census, the commission has taken up the following general 
matters relative to the fur-seal question: 

1. The changes, if anv, which have taken place on the Commander Islands since 
1896. 

2. The formation of the rookeries in the spring, including the observations nec- 
essary to complete our account of the life history of the fur seal. 

3. The vakxe and significance of counts and photographs in determining the 
population of the rookeries, and especially the degree of permanence in rookery 
outlines during the so-called height of the season. 

4. The corrections which should be made in the provisional census of 1896. 

5. The condition of the bachelor herd, as shown by the quota of killable seals, 
considered with reference to the changes which have taken place since 1896, and 
the causes of such changes. 

6. The investigation in greater detail of the causes of early mortality of fur-seal 
pups. 

7. Experimentation on a larger scale in the branding of female pups and adult 
cows for the purpose of depreciating the value of pelagic skins. 

8. Further experimentation in the herding of young bachelors in the salt lagoon 
of St. Paul Island during the season of pelagic sealing for the purpose of protect- 
ing them from the pelagic fleet. 

9. A reconsideration of all causes which have contributed to the decline of the 
herd. 

10. A reconsideration of the effects of the Paris award. 

11. An investigation of the methods of hunting the sea otter, with a view to 
devising means of saving these animals from extermination in Alaskan waters. 

12. An investigation, so far as time might allow, of the present condition of the 
salmon fisheries of Alaska. 

7 



PERSONNEL OF THE COMMISSION. 

In the work of 1897 I have again had the assistance of Dr. Leonhard Stejneger 
and Mr. Frederic A. Lucas, of the United States National Museum. Mr. George 
A. Clark was continued as secretary of the Commission, and took an active part in 
the work of investigation. Mr, Elmer E. Farmer, instructor in electrical engi- 
neering, and Howard S. Warren, student in electricity in Stanford University, 
accompanied the Commission to carry out the experiments in electrical branding. 
They were assisted by Messrs. Robert E. Snodgrass, Arthur W. Greeley, Arthur 
J. Edwards, students in Stanford University, and Trevor Kincaid, assistant in 
the University of Washington. Their natural -history collections and observations 
on the rookeries, after our departiire from the islands, have been of value in our 
work. Mr. Bristow Adams, artist assistant to the Commission, made a very valu- 
able series of drawings from life of the fur seals. Mr. Harry D. Chichester, an 
employee of the North American Commercial Company, resident on the islands, 
acted as photographer for the Commission, obtaining a most acceptable series of 
photographs. 

ASSIGNMENT OF "WORK. 

In the division of labor incident to this investigation the study of the Com- 
mander Islands was again assigned to Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, the mortality 
among the seals to Mr. Frederic A. Lucas, while all matters pertaining to the 
census of the rookeries and to the condition of the bachelor herd were placed in 
the hands of Mr. George A. Clark. The experiments in branding and herding 
were left, as heretofore, to the immediate supervision of Col. Joseph Murray, now 
chief agent in charge of the Pribilof Islands, Messrs. Farmer and Warren being 
appointed to act as his assistants. 

For my own part, I retained general supervision of the investigations as a whole 
and witnessed the important work of counting the pups. I also made investiga- 
tions of the sea-otter problem, with a view to offering recommendations for the 
protection of this animal. More important work in this .direction, however, car- 
ried out by Capt. Calvin L. Hooper, commander of the •Bering Sea patrol fleet, 
whose observations have been much more extensive than mine, makes it unneces- 
sary for me to do more here than emphasize the recommendations already made 
in his reijort, which has been published by the Treasury Department. The results 
of my investigations of the salmon fisheries have been incorporated in a joint let- 
ter with Captain Hooper to the Department. This letter is attached as Appendix 
IV to this report. The preparation of the text of the present report is the joint 
work of Mr. Clark and myself. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

I may here make acknowledgments for favors and assistance to Capt. Jefferson 
F. Moser, of the United States Fish Commission steamer Albatross, to Capt. Calvin 
L. Hooper, commanding the Bering Sea Patrol, to Capt. W. H. Roberts and the 
officers of the United States revenue cutter Rush, to Col. Joseph Murray, chief 
agent in charge of the islands, and his associates, Messrs. John M. Morton and 
James Judge, to Mr. Joseph Stanley-Brown, superintendent of the North Amer- 
ican Commercial Company, and to the resident agents and physicians of the com- 
pany on the islands of St. Paul and St. George. 

ITINERARY. 

May 22. — Mr. Clark sailed from San Francisco on the North American Com- 
pany's steamer Del Norte May 23. Mr. Bristow Adams accompanied him as artist, 
assistant to the Commission. Col. Joseph Murray, chief a.gent, Mr. John M. 
Morton, assistant agent, and Mr. James M. Macoun, Canadian Commissioner, 
wei'e also passengers on the vessel. The Del Norte arrived at Wood Island, Kadiak, 
May 81, and at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, on the morning of June 4. 

June 7.— The Del Norte arrived at St. George Island, remaining at anchor dis- 
charging cargo until the evening of the 11th, during which time Mr. Clark visited 
all the rookeries of St. George," and made daily visits to North rookery near the 
village. 

June 12.— On the morning of June 12 Mr. Clark was landed on St. Paul Island 
and began daily observation of the breeding rookeries. 



9 

July 1. — Mr. Lucas arrived on the Rii><h at St. Paul July 1, Dr. Stejneger, who 
accompanied him to Unalaska, having sailed directlj' from that port for the Com- 
mander Islands on board the Grant. 

July 9. — Mr. Lucas examined the rookeries of St. George Island, counting the 
cows present. Mr. Chichester photographed the rookeries of St. Paul. Messrs. 
Clark and Macoun counting Lagoon rookery. On the loth Kitovi rookery was 
counted by Messrs. Macoun and Lucas. The other rookeries were counted in order, 
chiefly by'Mr. Clark. Mr. Chichester photographed the rookeries of St. Paul for 
the Fish Commission. 

July -.7. — Dr. Jordan arrived at St. George Island, and after \'isiting the rook- 
eries there, was lande 1 at St. Paul July 28. The following week was devoted to 
inspection of the rookeries of this island. 

Jtily 30. — The count of live pups was begun on the test rookeries. Kitovi was 
counted by Messrs. Clark and Macoun on August 2. This was followed by a 
count of dead pups on the " death traps " of Zapadni and Tolstoi. 

August 5. — Prof. D'Arcy W. Thompson arrived at St. Paul on H. M. S. Rainbow 
from the Commander Islands. 

Augusts.— Mx. Macoun left St. Paul on H. M. S. Pheasant. 

August 11. — Dr. Jordan and Mr. Clai-k left St. Paul Island on the revenue cutter 
Bush, arri\nng at Seattle in the evening of the 21st. 

August I'l. — Professor Thompson sailed from the islands on the Amphion. 

August IS. — Mr. Lucas left St. Paul on the Del Xorte, arriving in San Francisco 
August 31. 

ROOKERY DEVELOPMENT. 

It was possible this season to begin our observations with the earliest arrival of 
cows on the rookeries, thtis securing a continuous historj- of the breeding season. 

ARRIVAL OF BULLS. 

When the rookeries were first "\'isited on the 7th of June the bulls of the older 
class were found on the breeding grounds wherever harems were located last year. 
Of their incoming we have no personal knowledge, but the record in the logs of 
the two islands shows that the bulls began to arrive about the 1st of May. the 
number gradually increasing from one or two on each rookery to the numb' 'r found 
on June 7. At that time one cow was present with a pup on East rookery of St. 
George. She had been present since June 3. No other cows arrived on St. George 
until the 9th, and on the 10th the first cows landed on St. Paul. 

From this time on the population of bitlls increased by the addition of that class 
known as idle bulls. At the time of the first visits to the rookeries these animals 
were not present, though some of them were doubtless swimming about in front 
oi the rookeries. Twent j' such btills in the water were counted on North rookery. 
On St. Paul a count of bitlls on Kitovi rookery was made on Jtme 13, before any 
cows had appeared. l.")6 being found. On the 13th of July there were 179 bulls 
controlling harems and about 25 more of the idle class on this rookery. The obser- 
vations of the season therefore show that the idle bulls as a class do not take up 
their ijlaces on the rookeries much before the arrival of the cows. It was also 
found as the season advanced that some did not occupy their places permanently, 
but shifted about and occasionally went to the water, and possibly they fed also, 
for when they came to enter the rookeries late in July, on the deisarture of the 
regular bulls, they were in good condition, 

ARRIVAL OF COWS. 

"We were greatly siirprised at the gradual aiTival of the cows. The general 
impression was that they came in practically in a body. On the contrary, their 
arrival was so gradual that it was impossible to tell from day to day whether any 
additions had been made except by an actual count. The earliest arrivals for St. 
Paul dated with June 10 on Tolstoi rookerj'. But no cows appeared on the rook- 
eries near the village until the 12th. when a single cow landed on Lukanin, By 
the 17th of June the total population of this rookery was only 11 and on the 22d it 
numbered no more than 74. By June 30 the number had increased to 635. On 
July 15 there were 1,841. 

In order to get definite data regarding the development of the rookeries daily 
counts were kept up from the very beginning of the season on Lukanin rookery 



10 

and on a part of Kitovi known as the '•Amphitheater." These counts are as fol- 
lows, and show clearly the changing character of the rookeries from day to day: 

Eecorcl of arrival of cows.a 



Date. 



Amphitheater of Kitovi. 



June 13 - 
13. 
U. 
15. 
16- 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20- 
21. 
23 

h. 

24- 
25. 
26. 
27. 
38. 
29. 
30. 
July 1- 
2 

3." 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9 

10. 
11. 
13 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16- 
17- 
18. 
19- 
20. 
21. 
22 
23^ 
24. 
25. 
26. 
37. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 



Cows 
present. 



June 14 . 

30. 

30. 
July 8. 



Record of harems. 



23 
37 
45 

56 

76 

105 

137 
168 
210 
246 
290 
383 
414 
499 
518 
550 
585 
I 587 
660 
703 



654 
.556 
703 
678 
698 
556 
556 
439 
538 
416 
469 
465 
426 
463 
406 
304 
414 
437 
375 



Date. 



Record of harem.'i — Continued. 
July 13 



June 13 - 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18- 
19- 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25- 
26. 
27- 



July 



9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13- 
15- 
14 c 
15 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
30. 
31. 
33. 
33. 
24. 
35. 
36. 
27. 
28. 
39. 
.30- 
31. 



Lukunin rookery. 



46 
53 



1 
1 

3 

5 

6 

11 

19 

25 

37 

53 

74 

103 

131 

176 

307 

257 



6.35 



890 
938 
088 
197 
364 
371 
531 
541 
680 
755 



736 
841 
308 
337 
335 
338 
228 
290 
214 
215 
319 
313 
196 
186 
148 
157 
177 
149 
137 
134 



« Weather clear; no storms or surf, except one day when rain fell, causing a larger number of 
cows to take to water and making it difficult to distinguish those present from the rocks. 

h Rain. 

c After July 14 it became impossible, on account of the scattering of the cows, to continue the 
count for the entire rookery without too great loss of time, and so a section of 18 harems was 
singled out and the count continued on it. 



CHANGES FROM DAY TO DAY. 

From these figures it will be seen that on no two days of the breeding season 
are the rookery conditions the same. It is true that a time comes when the maxi- 
mum attendance of cows is reached, but there is no "height of the season" in 
the sense that the number of cows present is uniform from day to day. Changes 
occur from day to day. Thus on the 14th of July there are 15 per cent less cows 
present on the Amphitheater than on the 13th, and on the 15th there were 20 per 



11 

cent more than on the 14th. But it required always an actual count to demonstrate 
this. To the eye of the observer these changes would not appear. 

From the beginning of the season there is a gradual and more or less even 
increase in the population of the rookeries until a maximum is reached about the 
middle of July. There is no reason, however, to believe that the date of this maxi- 
mum may not vary somewhat from year to year, depending on the season. Nor 
does the maximum here described represent a fixed condition in rookery population. 
As a matter of fact, at this time the greatest changes of the season are taking place. 
More cows are arriving and more departing than at an}'' other time. But for a few 
days the arrivals and departures appear in a general way to balance each other. 
The increase in the number of arrivals which has been going steadily on since the 
beginning of the season reaches a climax and a decrease begins. About ten daj's 
after the'first arrivals the cows begin to depart, the number increasing as the sea- 
son advances, until at a certain point they e lual the numler of arrivals, and this 
is the '-height of the season.'' From this point the arrivals and departures 
diverge, the latter continuing to increase as the season advances, the former 
decreasing until the breeding season closes. 

MAXIMUM POPULATION. 

The maximum population on Lukanin and Kitovi rookeries was reached on the 
15th of July. From the 18th onward the arrivals decreased raiiidly, practically 
ceasing by the end of July. In the meantime the departures increased in number 
as the pups became older, and by the end of July the poinilation on any particular 
dav was but little more than one-half what it represented at the height of the sea- 
son, or about one-fourth of the total number of females actually belonging to any 
particular rookery. 

APPEARANCE OF THE BREEDING GROUNDP. 

This peculiarity in the development of the rookeries should be noted: while 
they show a gradual increase in numbers to a maximum and then a decline, the 
appearance of the breeding grounds apparently shows a different condition of 
things. Up to about the lOtli of July the harems are held in rigid control, and in 
the present thin and scattered condition of the rookeries each harem is distinctly 
marked. During tiiis time the cows are occupied with bringing forth their pups, 
nursing them and resting. They lie as closely as may be together and are rather 
indifferent to what is going on about them. 

When, however, the greater part of the cows have borne their pups and begin 
to come in heat in.large numbers, which occurs from the oth to the 10th of July, 
they become restless, biting at one another and moving about. The harems are 
kept constantly stirred up. The bulls grow excited, and the idle bulls adjoining 
the harems become aggressive. When the harem masters are otherwise engaged, 
the idle bulls steal cows one by one and establish small harems behind the original 
families. The cows themselves wander beyond the close harem confines when the 
bulls are busy, and are captured or else voluntarily join the new harems formed 
by capture. The harems so formed frequently outnumber in size the original 
ones. At this time, also, the pups begin to move out and gather in i)ods by them- 
selves. The cows follow them. The interspaces between the harems are filled in, 
so that only in a general way can individual families be distinguished. 

Viewed before the 10th of July and very soon after, wdien this change has taken 
place, it might easily be supposed that there had been a great expansion of the 
rookery population. But the actual count shows this not vo be the case. It fur- 
ther shows that this apparent expansion goes on and increases through the season 
notwithstanding the fact that the population is largely diminished. Thus when 
the Amphitheater of Kitovi showed only a population of 375 cows on the last day 
of July, this limited number occupied more territory than did 700 on July 15, or 
585 on July 8. 

As the number of cows diminishes, the pups become more conspicuous, and 
deceive the observer, for their number is far in excess of the largest number of 
cows ever present. For this reason the rookeries when covered with pups seem 
more populous than in the height of the season. It was necessary to actually 
count the cows on July 25 to make sure that they had not increased instead of 
diminished. Under such circumstances no correct impression of the condition of 
the rookeries can be obtained by mere observation, a fact which can not be too 
strongly emphasized. The relative numbers of cows present can never be ascer- 
tained by the eye. Only actual counts can be trusted. 

Not only can no true idea of the condition of the rookeries be obtained from 



12 

counting the cows, but a count of the families themselves which have been regarded 
as more or less permanent can give no better results. The following record of 
harems on the Amphitheater will suffice to show this clearly: 

Count of Jiarems; — Amxihitlieater of Kitovi. 



Date. 



June 14. 



Harems. 1 Dtite. Harems. 




35 



21) I 3 I 13 46 

30 : Kt I; 25... ' 53 



Thus with 277_less cows on the 25th of July, the Amphitheater had seven more 
harems than on July 13. In further illustration of this may be cited the results of 
two counts made at an interval of seven days in 1896 on Tolstoi cliffs. On July 14 
Mr. Lucas found 108 harems with 1,498 cows: on July 21. 115 harems witli 1,038 
cows. While the number of cows had decreased by 30 per cent, the numb r of 
harems had increased by 7 par cent. 

After the 25th of July, of course, the breeding season was practically over so far 
as the adult cows were concerned. The original harem masters began to leave; 
the idle and younger bulls came in in large numbers to take their places and to 
serve the two-yeai'-old cows when they should api^ear in the last week of July 
and the first week of August. 

With a view to illustrating the phenomenon of scattering above noted on the 
rookeries, the Amphitlieater of Kitovi was photographed every other day through- 
out the month of July. Through these photographs can be traced from day to 
day the changes on this breeding ground. On all the other rookeries the changes 
were equally marked. 

PHOTOGRAPHS NOT TO BE RELIED ON. 

These observations also show that too great reliance must not be placed on 
photographs or maps to indicate actual rookery conditions. Photographs taken 
'at a week's interval show radical changes. To trace in the rookery outlines on a 
chart is merely to fix in a general way the impression of the rookery for the par- 
ticular day in question. In other words, the breeding grounds are in a constant 
state of change both as to popiilation and extent of ground occupied from the 
beginning to the end of the season. This affect-; also all observations of the rook- 
eries and all counts of cows and harems. Hence these methods of arriving at a 
knowledge of the true state of the rookeries are indefinite. There is only one abso- 
lute gauge of the numerical condition of the herd, and this is the number of pups. 
These pups for the first six weeks of their lives are constantly on the rookeries. 
They can be counted with reasonable accuracy about the first of August on a 
number of typical breeding grounds, and a comparison of such counts from year 
to year will give a reliable index of the condition of the herd. 

THE CENSUS OF 1896. 

In the beginning of our work last season we were influenced by the notion 
long currently accepted that there was a time in the breeding season when the 
rookeries were at their height and practically all the cows present. With this 
idea in mind we set about making a census of the rookeries. 

On certain rookeries and portions of rookeries the individual cows were counted 
by harems, and on all the rookeries harems were counted or closely estimated. Of 
the rookeries counted. Kitovi was taken as most typical of the conditions on the 
larger breeding grounds, and its average size of harem was used in determining, 
the population of those rookeries on which only the count of harems could be 
made. By this means a provisional enumeration of the breeding cows was made 
before the 1st of August. 

During August it became evident that the number of pups to be seen on the 
rookeries counted was manifestly in excess of the number of cows. Accordingly 
a count of live pups was made on all rookeries where cows had been counted, and 
they were found in every case to be greatly in excess. It was therefore found 
necessary to make a large correction in the preliminary estimate for absent cows. 
It was assumed that this correction should be about 75 per cent. This correction 
was accordingly applied to the provisional census of cows and the following com- 
pleted census for 1896 obtained: 



13 



Suvimary of breeding seals (counts and estimates), a 



Rookery. 


Harems. 


Cows 
(count). 


Actual 
total. 


ST. I'AUL. 

KitoYi 


182 
147 
120 
:589 
108 
583 
210 
176 
303 

504 
63 

138 
86 
45 

975 

293 


3,1.53 
3.543 
1,474 
6.729 
1.498 

10,085 
2,400 
2,2.56 
5,224 
.5.50 
8,719 
1,090 
2.387 
1.268 
779 

15.879 
4.328 


6,049 
4.4.50 


Lukanin 




2,484 




11, 775 


Tolstoi ( cliffs ) 


2,664 




17,648 


Little Zapadiii . - . - 


4,200 




3,863 


Gorbatch . .. 


9,143 




652 


Reef _ 


15,258 
1,907 




4,177 


Polovina (cliffs ) 


2,496 


Polovina (little) 


1,;363 




37,148 




7.773 






Total . . . 


4,348 


70.361 


133,048 






ST. GEORGE. 

North - - 


225 
44 
135 

182 
75 


3,891 
761 
3.335 
3.148 
1,297 


6,809 


Little East 


1,350 


East - 


4,086 




5,509 




3,369 






Total -. 


661 


11,432 


30.033 








5,009 


81,793 


143,071 







a Published in the Preliminary Report for 1896. 
Bobrovi (Otter Island) had 1 harem, containing 5 cows and 5 pnps. 

THE REVISION OF THE CENSUS OF 1896. 



ERRONEOUS ESTIMATES. 

As a result of our experience in making the census for 1897, it becomes necessary 
to make certain corrections in the foregoing figures. The closer inspection of the 
breeding grounds in 1897 showed that on St. Paul Island, Zapadni and Tolstoi 
rookeries were probably overestimated in 1896 to the extent of* 40 harems and 30 
harems, respectively. Polovina seems to have been underestimated by about 15 
harems. Sivutch Rock was not visited last year in the breeding season, and the 
estimate for it was based upon a count of harems made from the reef with the aid 
of a glass, verified by a later count on the rookery in August. A careful inspection 
in the breeding season this year showed 102 harems, and proved the rookery to be 
mxich larger than was supposed in 1896. On North and Zapadni I'ookeries of St. 
George the estimate of harems for last year was based upon a count made at the 
close of the month of Julj'. Our experiences this year show that counts made 
after July 20 can not be relied upon. We have, therefore, in the revision taken 
for Zapadni an earlier count made on July 11. North rookery was in 1896 counted 
in part and in part estimated, the total number of harems being 189. From closer 
inspection of the estimated part in 1897 it has seemed best to raise this figure to 
200. These corrections are not given as absolute, but represent the best possible 
judgment after carefully considering all the conditions. 

UNDER AND OVER ESTIMATES BALANCE. 

These under and over estimates, however, nearly balance each other, and are 
unimportant. The sei'ious error in the census of 1896 lies in the low percentage 
of correction made for absent cows. In the original enumeration of cows present 
in the height of the season the conditions of Kitovi rookery were applied to the 
others as being most typical. When the enumeration of live pups changed this 
original enumeration, in making the correction the average ratio of pups to cows 
on all the rookeries counted instead of the ratio of Kitovi was used. The experiences 
of this year show that the conditions of Kitovi rookery were more nearly correct. 



14 

The ratio of pups to cows on this rookery in 1896 was 1.91 to 1. The average ratio 
was 1.75 to 1, but this abnormally low average is known to have contained certain 
elements of error. 

In revising the census of 1896 we have therefore simply gone back to the condi- 
tions of Kitovi and applied them to the other rookeries, making such other minor 
changes as, in the light of our experience, seem necessary. It may bt^ noted that 
we have no occasion to alter the original actual counts upon which the census is 
based. 

Revised census, 1S9G. 

ST. PAUL. 



Rookery. 



Harem 




Kitovi 

Lagoon 

Polovina Cliffs . 
Zapadui Reef... 

Lnkanin 

Tolstoi a 

Zapadni h - - 

Little Zapadni , 

Gor hatch 

Ardiguen 

Reef 

Sivntch d 

Polovina*" 

Little Polovina 

Vostochni 

Morjovi 

Total 



137,696 



ST. GEORGE. 



North 

Little East . . . 

East 

Zopadni 

Staraya Artel 

Total ... 



200 


6,640 


44 


l,a50 


13.5 


4,482 


14;^ 


4,747 


75 


2.490 



19, 709 



RECAPITULATION. 



St. Paul.. 

St. George 

Grand total 



4,335 
597 



137,696 
19,709 



157,405 



a A reduction of 30 harems from the original estimate. 

h A reduction of id harems. 

c The original count of 650 pups used in the census of 1896 was made from the cliffs above the 
rookery under circumstances which make it certain that it is an underestimate. It is therefore 
discarded. 

d An increase of 43 harems. 

e An increase of 15 harems. 

This elaborated census is not given as the basis for a comparison between the two 
seasons, but as a matter of information as to the true condition of tlie herd. It is 
impossible that the enumeration should be made absolute, but it is near enough 
the actual conditions for all practical purposes. The total of 157.405 breeding 
seals means between 150,000 and 160,000. No closer accuracy is claimed for the 
figures, but none is needed, and the margin of error can not be great. 

THE CENSUS OF 1897. 

NATURE OF THE PROBLEM. 



In undertaking the census of 1897 we had a clear idea from the beginning of the 
nature of the problem. The iirst important thing was to make a full enumeration 
of the harems on all the rookeries in the height of the season. The next important 



15 

thing was to make a count of pups on some typical rookery or rookeries, thus obtain- 
ing an average size of harem which could be applied to the larger breeding areas, 
on which the pups could not be counted. 

The cows on the rookeries counted in 1896 were similarly counted in 1897 for 
purposes of comparison, and it was from these that we discovered the inadequacy 
of the correction of 75 -per cent made for absent cows last year. These counts are 
as follows: 

Comparison of counts of cows andpiqys, 1S97. 



Rookery. 



Kitovi 

Lagcion 

Zapadni Eeef . . . 
Polovina (cliffs) - 

Ardiqiien 

Little East 



Total . 




On the basis of all these rookeries the piips are 2.3 times as numerous as were 
the cows in the height of the season. For Kitovi rookery itself the pups are 2.3 
times as numerous. As the most careful and accurate counting was done on this 
rookery, we feel justified in using its conditions as a basis for an estimate of the 
others. 

The following is the enumeration of breeding seals on the islands for the season 
of 1897. The intermediate step of obtaining the number of cows present in the 
height of the season is dropped out and the average size of harem for Kitovi rook- 
ery, ascertained by a count of the pups on August 3, is applied to the rookeries on 
which only harems are counted. For Kitovi rookery, and all others on which 
pups were counted, the actual counts are used unchanged: 

Census, 1S97. 
ST. PAUL. 



Rookery. 



Kitovi 

Lagoon 

Polovina (cliffs) 
Zapadni Reef... 

Lukanin. ...' 

Tolstoi... 

Zapadni 

Little Zapadni. 

Gorbatch 

Ardiguen 

Reef _._. 

Siviitcli. 

Polovina _ 

Little Polovina. 

Vostochni _ 

Morjovi 

Total 



179 


5,289 


115 


2,598 


til 


2.200 


114 


3.041 


139 


4,100 


m>, 


11,593 


4-5.S 


13.511 


17() 


5,192 


308 


9,086 


33 


73o 


454 


13,393 


loa 


3,009 


i4:i 


4,218 


40 


1,180 


910 


26,845 


Z^6 


0.873 



3. 858 112, 864 



ST. GEORGE. 



North 


196 
46 
128 
1313 
57 


5.782 


Little East - 


1. 190 


East 


3.776 




3. 923 




1,681 






Total - 


560 


16,a52 







RECAPITULATION. 



St. Paul... 
St. George. 

Total 



112,864 
16.3.52 



4,418 



16 

THE WORK OF COUNTING. 

The work of counting the seals is most diflficnlt and demands skill and experience 
to make it of value. Inexperienced counts are usually below or above the facts 
according to the personal equation of the person doing the work. The live pups 
must be counted while in motion, as they are run olf in pods, and unless the work 
is done surely and quickly confusion results. Many of the dead pups are hidden 
among the rocks and it reqtiires keenness of vision to pick them out. The cows 
themselves are with difficulty distinguished from the rocks among which they lie. 

With a view to securing the most satisfactory results, the work of counting dur- 
ing the season of 1897 has been left almost wholly to Mr. Clark, whose experience 
in counting dead and living pups in 189(5 was greater than that of all other mem- 
bers of the commission combined. For the British commission the work has in 
like manner been done almost entirely by Mr. Macoun, the two men working 
together, making separate counts and verifying results whenever differences arose. 

As director of the investigations, I think it proper to say emphatically that the 
keen eyesight and conscientious accuracy of these two observers are very unusual, 
even among skilled naturalists, and I believe the results of their work in this 
regard to be above criticism. I should not accept a count of my own if differing 
from theirs, nor should I accept a count of any other member of either commis- 
sion as opposed to any numerical conclusion they might reach. 

EVIDENCE OF DECLINE — COUNTS. 

Wherever counts were made during both seasons they show a marked decline 
in the breeding herd. Fewer harems were found on the typical rookeries in 1897, 
fewer cows in the height of the season, smaller apparent harems, and a lesser 
number of pups. The following is a summary of the actual counts for the two 
years: 

Actual counts, lS'J<j-'J7. 



Rookery. 



Harems. 



1896. 189' 



Cows. 



1896. 1897. 



Pups. 



1896. 



1897. 



Kitovi 

Lagoon 

Tolstoi f cliffs).. 
Zapadni Reef .. 

Polovina (cliffs) 

Little East 6 

Ardiguen 



180 
120 

108 
176 
86 
(ft) 



179 
11.5 
98 
lU 
61 
33 
33 



3,152 
1,474 
1,498 
3,2.56 
1,266 
(b) 
550 



3,436 
1,319 

1,286 

1.049 

747 

497 

470 



6,049 
3,484 
2,664 
3,862 
3,496 
1,350 
ib) 



5,389 
3.598 
(a) 
3,041 
3,200 
1,190 
736 



a Not counted. 



/) Count of 1896 rejected as obvioiisly incorrect. 



Taking as a basis the whole ntimber of live pups actually counted, we find the 
decrease to be about 13 per cent. By reference, however, to the count on Lagoon 
Rookery, which has been here included, we find that instead of a decrease there 
has been an apparent increase of 3 per cent. This increase is really due to defects 
in the count of 1896. That no real increase took place is evident from the fact 
that not only has the number of harems decreased from 1896 to 1897, but the 
number of cows found present in the height of the season as well. The count of 
live pups on the 18th of August, 1896, was made under very mtich greater diffi- 
culties than the one this year on July 30, and is manifestly less accurate. This 
year the pups had not begun to spread across the point of the reef at the time of 
the count. Last year the pups occupied the entire width of the rookery and took 
to the water on both sides. 

But whatever this individual count may show, it can not of course be considered 
an indication of increase on the rookeries as a whole. Leaving out Lagoon 
Rookery from the record, we find that the remaining rookeries on which the pups 
were counted show a reduction of 14.4 per cent. 

COUNT OF PUPS THE ONLY SURE BASIS. 



The coiTut of pups is the only sure basis for an estimate of the relative condition 
of the rookeries, but at the same time the count of harems and cows, made on 
practically the same dates in succeeding years, must be admitted as corroborative 
evidence. The count of harems is more satisfactory than that of the cows, as the 
families themselves are more permanent than the individuals which occupy them. 



17 

Both show a marked decrease. By reference to the individual counts, however, it 
will be seen that on Zapadni Reef and Polovina Cliffs the cows this year were 
scarcely half as numerous as at the same date last year. The comparison of the 
count of pups on these rookeries shows only the normal decrease found elsewhere. 
Every indication, therefore, is that these counts represent abnormal conditions, 
more cows perhaps being in the water in 1897 on account of the warmer weather. 
But whatever these seeming irregularities may mean, the counts of cows for the two 
seasons point unmistakably in the direction of decline. 
From the foregoing counts we may draw the following summary of results: 

Summary of counts, 1896, 1897. 



Count. 



Harems (total). 

Cows (on certain rookeries) 
Pups (on certain rookeries) 



4,933 
10, 198 
16,241 



4,418 

7,307 

14,318 



De- 
crease. 



Per cent. 
10.41 
38.34 
11.8 



ABANDONMENT OF BREEDING GROUNDS. 

SHRINKAGE NOT EVERYWHERE EQUALLY VISIBLE. 

From the nature of the breeding grounds shrinkage in the rookeries is not every- 
where equally visible. Where the rookery occupies the narrow beach at the foot 
of cliffs, as on parts of Lukanin, Tolstoi, and Polovina, the ground of last year 
was in a general way occtipied this year. The reduction consisted simply in a 
general thinning out over the whole surface, and did not appear as an abandon- 
ment of breeding territory. Where the harems occupied a slope of indefinite 
extent, the shrinkage could be seen but not defined. Here, in addition to thinning 
out over the whole area, there was a reduction of the space occupied. But this 
could not be stated in definite terms except where an actual count of live pups 
was made or where some landmark familiar to the eye during both seasons indi- 
cated the abandonment of ground formerly occupied. 



ABANDONED TERRITORY. 

At various points on all the rookeries, portions of ground occupied last year by 
harems were not entered by the breeding seals this year. This was particularly 
noticeable at the head of the slide on Ardiguen. This rookery was closely watched 
during the entire season of 1896, a record of its conditions being taken from day 
to day. On the 14th of July, when it was first visited, there were three harems, 
aggregating 78 cows and about 125 pups on the flat above the slide. In the slide 
itself there were four other harems with over 100 cows. During the past season 
no cows or pups appeared above the slide and the three bulls which marked the 
place of the harems last year remained idle throvighout the whole season. The 
four harems in the slide itself were reduced to three very small ones of a few 
cows each, the greatest number actually seen being from 10 to 13. The harems 
recorded in our preliminary report as A, B, C, and E were wholly gone, not a cow 
appearing in any of them. 

In 1893, Mr. Macoun, of the British commission, tells us there were more than 
300 cows on the now deserted flat at the head of Ardiguen. This example of 
abandonment of breeding territory was in 1897 particularly striking because of 
the frequency of the observations made upon it. 

Another example almost equally striking was seen on Gor batch rookery, in the 
vicinity of Old John's Hock. This rock could not be reached last year in the 
height pf the season, because of the idle bulls about it, and the presence of a large 
harem at its foot. This year it could be xised as an observation point at all times, 
and at no time did the cows reach within 100 feet of the rock. 

The cliff of Lukanin rookery, a place of observation much visited in 1896, fur- 
nishes another illustration. The cliff is broken into several sections by slides and 
runways. In each of the three runways last year large harems were located which 
overflowed on the surface above later in the season. This year no harems what- 
ever were found in these runways in the breeding reason. On all rookeries visited 
frequently both seasons, similar instances of abandonment were noticed. 

9868 2 



18 

SHRUNKEN APPEARANCE OF MASSED PORTIONS OF ROOKERIES. 

More noticeable, though less definite, was the shrunken appearance of all the 
massed portions of the rookeries. On the sand flat of Tolstoi, for example, the 
seals were much less dense in 1897, and occupied only about one-half of the terri- 
tory covered in 1896. The breeding seals were crowded at the eastern end of the 
sand flat in a wedge-shaped mass, reaching to the foot of the rocky slope by the 
nearest route, and extending up it in a narrow band. For the greater part of its 
surface the slope was unoccupied. 

FALLING OFF IN NUMBER OF DEAD PUPS. 

No better evidence of the shrunken condition of the herd on Tolstoi rookery can 
be desired than the count of dead jiups. Where 1,495 were found last year, there 
were only 593 in 1897. The conditions which produce the mortality in this par- 
ticular locality have to do directly with the crowding of seals; the fewer there are, 
the less will be found dead. The same decrease in dead pups was noted on all 
other crowded rookerj^ spaces, as on Zapadni, Gorbatch, and the Reef, and it was 
due to the same cause, namely, the thinning out of the breeding seals, which avoid, 
whenever possible, the flat and sandy areas. 

OTHER EVIDENCES OF DECLINE. 

The decline in the breeding herd manifested itself in still another way during 
the present season. Last j'ear, on such rookeries as Reef, Zapadni, and Vostochni, 
were large breeding masses which could not be approached or accui-ately counted 
even by harems. It was this fact that led to the overestimate of certain parts of 
these rookeries. This year, however, the fact that no difficulty was experienced 
in counting these breeding masses plainly shows their scattered and shrunken 
condition. 

During the present season the crosses painted by Mr. Townsend in 1895 were 
again an evidence of decrease. Where in 1896 the shrinkage from these crosses 
was given in so many feet, it could be similarly expressed for 1897 in yards. 

STRUGGLES AMONG BULLS— MORTALITY AMONG COWS. 

A very striking though indirect evidence of decrease in the breeding females is 
shown by the mortality among the cows. On Reef rookery last year 25 dead cows 
were counted; this year there were 42. The diminished number of cows had 
increased the competition among the bulls, and in their struggles more cows were 
killed. Some of these cows were literally torn to pieces. Two cows were washed 
ashore from Lagoon rookery which had died from being bitten by bulls. On 
Lukanin rookery a cow was actually seen being torn to pieces by the bulls. Every- 
where the stealing of cows was more extensive than last year, and the number of 
cows showing cuts and gashes was very large. These conditions were i^lainly the 
result of the presence of bulls, this year idle, which had harems last year and 
were rendered furious by their failure to get them this year. Their actions were in 
marked contrast to those of the ordinary idle bulls which have yet to form harems. 

THE QUOTA OF KILLABLE SEALS. 

FURTHER EVIDENCE OF SHRINKAGE. 

Further evidence of shrinkage in the breeding herd is found in the qaota of 
killable seals. The breeding rookeries are affected by caiises which act upon the 
yearly accession of three-year-old cows; and since whatever affects the three-year- 
olds as a class affects also the males of the same age, the condition of the quota 
becomes an index of the state of the herd. The quota of the year is made up prac- 
tically of three- j^ear-old bachelors. Some two-year-olds are killed, and some four- 
year-olds, but the majority of those taken each year are three-year-olds. 

Last year the hauling grounds of the Pribilof Islands yielded 30,000 killable 
seals. During the present season a quota of 20,890 only could be taken. To get 
these it was necessary to drive more frequently and cull the animals more closely 
than has been done since 1889. The killing season was closed on July 37, in 1896. 
This year it was extended on St. Paul to the 7th of August, and on St. George to 
August 11. The quota to be taken was left to our discretion, and every oppor- 
tunity was given the lessees to take the full product of the hauling grounds. 
Notwithstanding all their efforts, the quota of 1897 shows a decrease of 30 per 
cent in the class of killable seals, and when we take into account the increased 
number of drives and the extension of the times of driving, the difference between 
the two seasons is even greater. 



19 

Tlie following table of statistics relating to the quota of 1897 indicates clearly 
the conditions under which it was taken : 

Statistics of killings. 
ST. PAUL. 



Date. 


Eookery. 


Animals 
killed. 


Rejected. a 


Percent- 
age 
killed. 


Weight 

of 
skins. 6 


Large. 


Small. 


1897. 


Food skins (fall of 1896 and spring of 

1897). 
Reef 


1,701 

492 
316 
708 

1.098 
790 
703 
208 
703 

1,230 

1,713 
456 
804 

1,249 
886 
297 
988 

1,322 
274 
526 
514 
199 
268 
376 
108 
418 
101 
173 








Pounds. 


June 15 


144 
130 
556 
402 
376 
388 
107 
239 
301 
■3.55 
97 
140 
316 
391 
180 
377 
500 
161 
353 
491 
321 
298 
383 
118 
3.50 
159 
200 


119 
36 
184 
314 
214 
224 
90 
175 
306 
551 
115 
638 
661 
586 
413 

1,174 

3,047 
698 

1, 380 
890 
545 

1,114 
708 
450 

1.440 
376 
486 


65 
67 
48 
64 
57 
58 
53 
63 
67 
65 
68 
50 
58 
53 
66 
39 
34 
24 
23 
27 
20 
16 
20 
16 
19 
15 
30 




18-- 




9 


23 


Zolotoi, Reef, and Lukanin 


7 7 


26.. 

30 


Tolstoi. Middle Hill, and English Bay. 
Northeast Point 


7.4 


July 1 


do... 

Lukauin .... 






7 7 


5-- 




7.S 


6 

8.- 


Tolstoi, Middle Hill, and English Bay. 
Northeast Point 


7.6 


9 

12 


Polovina 

Reef and Lukanin 

Northeast Point - 


7.5 


14 




16 - 

17 


Zapadni 

Middle Hill and English Bav 


7.8 

8 


19 


Lukanin, Zolotoi, and Reef." 




22 


Northeast Point 




23 .. -- 


Polovina . 


8 5 


24 


Lukanin and Reef 


7.4 


26 


Zapadni 


8.3 


27 


Tolstoi and Middle Hill . 




29 


Northeast Point 




30 


do .... 




31 

Aug. 2 

5 


Polovina 

Reef and Lukanin 

Middle Hill, and English Bay 

Reef ." 


7.9 

8 
7.7 




Total. 






18,520 











ST. GEORGE. 



1897. 


Food skins (fall of 1896 and spring of 

1897). 
East 


228 

1.50 

10 

140 

2 

70 

4 

227 

""6 

353 

309 

4 

104 

391 

10 

179 

153 

6 

307 

17 










June 16 


93 


159 


36 




19-34.... 






35 


Zapadni 


74 


192 


34 




July 

3- 








31 


330 


16 




3 






7 


East 


41 


741 


22 




8-10.... 






13 


North and Staraya Artel 


54 
34 


645 

690 


26 
22 


7.5 


16 


East 


7 


17 


Food skins 




19 


Zapadni 


71 

83 


563 
1,620 


13 

18 




22 

24-31.... 


East, North, and Staraya Artel. 


7.3 


Aug. 2 


East 


47 
33 


902 

725 


16 
16 




North and Staraya Artel 




5-9 


Food skins 




10.. 


East, North, and Staraya Artel 

Food skins 


87 


1,343 


13 




11 






Total 












3,370 











RECAPITULATION. 

St. Paul Island 18,520 

St. George Island 2,370 

Total c20,890 



« The total number of animals rejected during the season can not be taken as indicating the 
number of bachelors not of killable age left, as many of these were driven several times and 
many of the younger seals doubtless do not come to the islands at all in the killing season. 

b The weight here griven is that of 100 skins weighed in lots of 10 each. 

c This includes all animals killed. The skius of 131 animals were rejected by the lessees. 



20 

' In contrast with these figures for 1897 may be cited those of 1896 in so far as they 
were kept. As the killing season was far advanced when we arrived last year at 
the islands, the data for that season are incomplete except for the actual number 
killed. The following are the figures: 

ST. PAUL ISLAND. 





Rookery. 


Animals 
killed. 


Rejected. 


Percent- 


Date. 


Large. , Small. 


killed. 


1896. 


Food skins (fall of 1895) 


929 

384 

283 

2 

1,414 
1,408 
3,076 
1,398 
1,396 
1. 109 
1,535 
784 
961 
1,371 


i 












June 19 








30 








33 








34 


do 






37 


Reef 


I 




39 


English Bay, Middle Hill, Tolstoi 








July 2 

3 








do 








6 


Zolotoi, Lukanin 




7 










8 . 










10 


Reef.Zolotoi . 








13 




1,045 


1 , ,-« 






do 


1.169 /^'^''" 

849 \ 548 








15 


Reef.Zolotoi 


523 

1,038 

637 


44 


16 


Tolstoi, Middle Hill, English Bay 


1,138 
803 

1,047 
585 

1,630 
631 


279 

811 


46 


31 




35 


23 


do .. 




23 




313 
1.008 

4.i7 


344 

1,177 

137 


47 


25.. 

27 


Lnkanin. Kitovi, Zoltoi, Reef 

Middle Hill, Tolstoi, Lukanin 


42 
53 




Total 








23,842 

















ST. GEORGE ISLAND. 



1896. 


Pood skins (fall of 1895). 

Food skins (spring of 1896) 


166 
161 
576 
,568 
999 
804 
333 
700 
614 
321 
487 
231 
308 

6.163 
















June 19 


East 






32 


24 


Zapadni . ... 






76 


26 








73 


29 


East , . 






63 


July 2. : 

6 








68 








56 




East and Little East 

Zapadni.. 






57 


9 

13 


64 


365 


40 
46 


21 


East 






27 


24 








17 




Total . 









RECAPITrLATION. 

St. Paiil Island. 33,842 

St. Qeorge Island - - 6, 163 

Total -. .... o 30,005 

It will be seen from a study of these figures that the lowest percentage of seals 
killed in any drive on St. Paul Island in 1896 was 3o; during the present season it 
reached aslow as 15 per cent. The gradual fall in the percentage of animals killed 
does not represent a decrease in the number of animals driven. It means simply 
that the seals of killable age in the latter part of the season began to be outnum- 
bered by the younger seals which arrive at the islands in the latter part of July. 
In the earlier drives of the season the older bachelors are in the majority and con- 
sequently the greater proportion of the animals driven are killed. Later in the 
season the drives are larger and more seals are killed, but because of the excess of 
yearlings and 2-year-olds the percentage is very much smaller. 



a Five of these skins were rejected. 



21 

REDUCTION IN KILLABLE SEALS NOT AN ACTUAL MEASURE OF DECREASE. 

The reditction in killable seals for 1897, while proving a large decrease in the 
herd as a whole, can not be taken as an actual measure of such decrease. The 
normal quota is made up of 3-year-old seals, but some large 2-year-olds and small 
4-year-olds are regularly included. In 1896 the number of 2-year-olds taken was 
unusually large. This anticipated to some extent the quota of 1897. At the same 
time, however, it was evident that in 1896 a certain number of killable seals were 
still left over after the quota was filled. In the comparison of the quotas of the 
two years these two elements must be taken into account. It is impossible to say 
how nearly they balance each other, but in our judgment they practically do so. 

The difference of 30 per cent in killable seals for 1897 may be slightly abnormal, 
but that the decrease in this class from 1896 should be greater than that in the 
breeding herd for the same period is reasonable when we take into account the 
fact that the modus vivendi protected in some measure the pups of 1893, whereas 
the pups of 1894, from which the killable seals of this year were taken as a class, 
felt the full effects of the resumption of pelagic sealing in Bering Sea in that year. 

LAND KILLING- AND THE DECLINE. 

NO CONNECTION WITH THE DECLINE OF THE HERD. 

The investigations of the present season have only served to confirm the conclu- 
sion reached last year, that killing, as practiced on land, has no connection what- 
ever with the decline of the herd. Such killing is and has been for half a century 
confined to superfluous males, whose removal is a benefit rather than an injury. 
It would have been better for the herd if land killing had not been limited by the 
modus vivendi. The rookeries to-day are overstocked with adult bulls, which in 
their struggles to gain possession of the females tear them to pieces and trample 
their offspring. 

The only way in which land killing could injuriously affect the herd is through 
a reduction of the male life to a point below that required for propagation. The 
records of the islands show that there was never anything approaching a dearth 
of breeding bulls on the rookeries. The mere fact that for fourteen years after the 
islands came into the possession of the United States approximately 100,000 seals 
were taken each year without difficulty shows that the usual birthrate was main- 
tained. That land killing was not connected with the decline of the herd at its 
beginning, about the years 1882-1885, may reasonably be inferred from the fact 
that in the years 1876-77 only 175,000 males were killed, whereas the total for 1875 
and 1878 was 215,000, and for the five years preceding and succeeding a like pro- 
portionate number was taken. ' The 40,000 males thus saved out in 1876-77 were 
of breeding age in 1882 and were still in their prime in 1885 and the subsequent 
years of decline. 

NUMBERS OF MALES SPARED. 

Again, it is impossible to connect land killing with the greatest intensity of the 
decline in the years 1888-89 and subsequent years. In the years 1882-83 25,000 
less males were killed than in 1881 and 1884, or for five years before and after. 
These males, three years old in 1883, were ready to enter the rookeries in 1887 
and were still in their prime in 1890. These were voluntary contractions of the 
quota for commercial reasons, and would have abundantly stocked the rookeries 
had no males been reserved from year to year, as was the case. It is, indeed, to be 
doubted whether at any time the killing on the islands coiild by any possibility be 
made close enough to endanger the supply of bulls. There are certain inaccessi- 
ble hauling grounds, as Sivutch Rock, Otter Island, Zapadni Head, and Lagoon, 
from which bachelors are never driven, and which are in themselves probably 
sufficient to supply the necessary increment of bulls from year to year. There 
are, moreover, beyond doubt, many bachelors whose arrival is so late or whose 
stay is so short that they would escape from any danger of a drive. It is, in fact, 
by no means certain that all the bachelors actually visit the islands each year. 

CONTRAST BETWEEN BERING ISLAND AND THE PRIBILOFS. 

It is furthermore only necessary to contrast the conditions on Bering Island as 
described by Dr. Stejneger in Appendix II of this report with the history of the 

' This includes pups taken for food in the fall. 



22 

rookeries of the Pribilof Islands to see the absurdity of any claim that land killing 
could have affected the latter herd. The islands are at present grossly overstocked 
with bulls, and yet the average size of the harem is about ;^0 cows. There is no 
reason to believe that a bull can not take care of 200 cows, and the actual condition 
of South rookery of Bering Island shows that such is the case. 

With reference to the relation of land killing to the fur-seal herd, the accom- 
panying table of statistics regarding land and sea killing from the Pribilof Island 
herd is pertinent. It gives the date at which the quota was each j'ear filled, the 
number of hauling grounds from which seals were driven, the number of drives, 
and the total number of males killed for all purposes on both islands. These data 
are taken from the official records of the islands. Joined with the statistics for 
land killing is a table showing the yearly jielagic catch. A study of the record of 
the two catches will not only show that land killing is free from responsibility for 
the decline of the herd, but also that killing at sea is directly responsible for the 
decline. 

Statistics regarding land and sea killing, 1S71-1S97. 



Year. 



Date 
quota 
filled. a 



Hauling 
grounds 
driven. a 



Number 

of 
drives.a 



Killed 
on land. 6 



Killed 
at sea. 



1871. 
1873. 
1873. 
1874. 
1875. 
1876. 
1877. 
1878. 
1879. 
1880. 
1881. 
1882. 
1883. 
1884. 
1885. 
1886. 
1887. 
1888. 
1889. 
1890. 
1891. 
1892. 
1893. 
1894. 
189.5. 
1898. 
1897. 



July 28 
July 25 
July 24 
July 17 
July 16 
Aug. Ic 
July 14 
July 18 
July 16 
July 17 
July 20 
...do... 
July 19 
July 2i 
July 27 
July 26 
July 24 
July 27 
July 31 
July20d 

(e) 

(e) 

(e) 
Aug. 4 
July 27 
....do... 
Aug. 7 



46 
43 
51 

61 
55 
36 

44 
54 

71 

78 

99 

86 

81 

101 

106 

117 

101 

103 

110 

87 



(e) 
(e) 



(e) 
(e) 



102,960 

108, 819 

109, 177 

110. 585 

106, 460 

94, 657 

84, .310 

109.323 

110.411 

105, 718 

105, 063 

99, 813 

79,509 

105, 434 

105,024 

104 521 

10:5,760 

103, 304 

102,617 

28, 0.59 

12,040 

7.511 

7,396 

16. 370 

14, 846 

28, 964 

20,890 



16,911 

5,336 

5,239 

5,873 

5,033 

5, .515 

.5,310 

5,544 

8.5.57 

8,418 

10,382 

15,551 

16,557 

16,971 

23,040 

28,494 

30,638 

36,189 

29,858 

40,814 

59, .568 

46,642 

30,812 

61,838 

56,391 

43,917 

/25,079 



a These figures refer to the hauling grounds of St. Paul. 
b These totals include all males killed for any purpose on the islands. 

(" In 1876 the killing was begun at an unusual date, said to be on account of an exceptionally 
late season. 
d Closed by order of the agent in charge, 
e Years of the modus vivendi. 
/As reported to date. 



From this table we find that the herd was in a state of comparative equilibrium 
from 1871 to aboiit 1884. From 1874 to the latter date the normal quota was filled 
before the 20th of July with a more or less even average number of drives From 
1885 on the date at which the quota could be filled was steadily retarded, an 
increased number of hauling grounds were driven, and an increased number of 
drives made, until the collapse of the bachelor herds came in 1890. 

If we examine the column giving the record of pelagic sealing, we find that up to 
1881 the pelagic catch was very small, ranging about .5.000, rising slightly in the 
last two years. The period of apparent equilibrium, as shown by the history of 
the land catch, was balanced by a corresponding equilibrium in the catch at sea. 
From 1881, when the sea catch rose steadily, there began to be felt difficulty in 
filling the quota. It was maintained at its full measure of 100,000 until 1889, at 
first by closer killing and finally by killing younger animals. In 1890 the fall to 
20,000 came, showing the true condition of the herd. 

From this table it will be plain that with the ti-ebling of the pelagic catch in 
1883 and its subsequent steady increase we have the cause of the eqvially steady 
decline in the fur-seal herd. The figiires relating to land killing show with equal 
clearness that land killing can not be connected with the decline. In fact, it can 



23 

not be too strongly emphasized that no action which has been taken on the Pribi- 
lof Islands since 1870 has been in any appreciable degree a factor in the reduction 
of the herd. For this reduction neither the United States Government nor the 
lessees of the islands have been in any degree directly or indirectly responsible. 

THE CAUSE OF THE DECLINE. 

PELAGIC SEALING THE SOLE CAUSE. 

Tne sole cause of the decline of the fur-seal herd is found in pelagic sealing. 
This conclusion was reached last year, and a reconsideration of all of the (luestions 
involved gives no occasion to alter or modify it. The investigations of the season 
of 1897 only strengthens it. Pelagic sealing involves the indiscriminate killing of 
males and females, the latter forming at all times the greater part of the pelagic 
catch. When we take into account the loss of the herd through old age and the 
small percentage of young which survive to breeding age, we find the margin of 
increase in the herd tn be very small. The killing of females to any degree in 
excess of the annual increment of three-year-old breeders must cause decline. 
Under pelagic sealing this increment has at all times since 1885 been vastly 
exceeded. 

EFFECTS OF PELAGIC SEALING ON THE HERD. 

Pelagic sealing in its effect on the herd acts in two ways. Directlj'. it reduces 
the number of breeding females by killing them at sea: indirectly, it reduces the 
number of three-year-old breeders to return each year to the rookeries by starving 
them as pups or destroying them unborn with their mothers. 

The decline on the rookeries and hauling grounds between 1896 and 1897 has 
been intensified by the large pelagic catch made in Bering ^^ea during the summer 
of 1894 on the resumption, under the Paris award, of pelagic sealing after the 
modus Vivendi of 1893-93. In 1893 seals were of course taken off thenorthwest 
coast, as usual, but none were taken in Bering Sea. No pups, therefore, starved 
to death in the summer of 1893. The pups so spared appeared as three-year-olds on 
the breeding and hauling grounds in 189<3, swelling to some extent the number of 
killable seals as well as of young breeders. 

During the summer of 1894, however, the largest pelagic catch on record was 
made. A smaller number of pups was born, and many of these starved to death. 
These were wanting upon the hauling grounds and breeding grounds in 1897. 
The result has been the marked reduction in killable seals and in the three-year- 
old cows. The latter were notably fewer in numbers than in 1896. 

HIGH PROPORTION OF FEMALES IN PELAGIC CATCH. 

Knowing the pelagic catch and the proportion of females which it contains, it 
is jjossilne for us to put the results of pelagic sealing into definite form. During 
August and September, 1896, there were taken in Bering Sea 29,r)00 seals of both 
sexes. The reports of the expert examination of skins brought to American ports 
show 75 per cent to be females. Mr. Andrew Halkett, who spent the summer in 
Bering Sea on board the Dora Siewerd, making investigations for the Canadian 
Government, found a percentage of 84.2. This high pi'oportion of females in the 
pelagic catch is further corroborated ' by the expert examination of pelagic skins 
in the London market. 

Taking the average of the available estimates, we find that under present con- 
ditions abovit 80 per cent of the pelagic catch in Bering Sea are females. This 
percentage, applied to the actual catch of 29,500, gives a total of 23.600 female fur 
seals actiially killed and secured in Bering Sea. When, as in 1894 and 1895, the 
land killing was abnormally reduced, the percentage of males in the catch at sea 
becomes, of course, greater. To all computations based on the recorded pelagic 
catch must be added a considerable, though undetermined, number of animals 
killed but not recovered. In addition to the number of seals killed in Bering Sea, 
8,422 were taken off the northwest coast in the spring of 1897, of which about 93 
• per cent, '^ or 7,834, were females. A certain number of the females killed in each 
case were composed of yearlings and two-year-olds which have not yet bred, and 
of adults which had lost their pups. We may balance these two classes off 
against the undetermined loss through animals killed or wounded and not recov- 
ered. We have therefore a total of 31,434 breeding females lost to the herd since 
the date of oiir census of 1896. 

' See affidavits of London furriers. Appendix V. 

-As shown by the custom-house inspection of the catch of American vessels. 



24 

LOSS THROUGH PUPS STARVED IN 1894. 

Of the indirect loss which the herd has this year felt through the absence of 
pups starved in 1894, exact figures can not be given, but they can be approximated. 
We know from a study of the quota that the percentage of animals reaching the 
age of three years has been of late, under ordinary conditions, about one- third of 
the number born. There were killed in Bering Sea in the season of 1894 31,000 
seals of all classes. Assuming that 80 per cent of these were females, we have a 
total of 24,000 pups starved. Of these, 8,260 should have returned this year as 
three-year-olds, one-half to the breeding grounds and one-half to the hauling 
grounds. Adding 4,130 to the 31,434 already mentioned, we have a total loss of 
35,574 breeding females to the rookeries between the seasons of 1896 and 1897. 

By the most liberal estimate possible there appeared on the rookeries this year, 
to offset this loss, not more than 25,000 three- year-old cows. This estimate is 1 )ased 
on the quota of killable seals, and makes liberal allowance for two-year-olds killed 
in 1896. For the number of three-year-old bachelors a corresponding number of 
females of the same age must each year appear. This calculation therefore shows 
a net loss of abont 10,000 breeding females, or at the very least about 7 per cent 
of the breeding herd of last year. This talces no note of the loss sustained 
throxigh death by old age, which must l)e considerable, and certainly can not be 
less than ten per cent of the whole number. 

These figures are, of course, onl}' approximate, and can not be taken absolutely. 
They, however, furnish corroborative evidence of decline, and when taken in 
connection with our actual counts on the rookeries for the two seasons, they fully 
justify our claim that from 1896 and 1897 there has .been a reduction of from 12 to 
15 per cent in the fur-seal herd. 

PELAGIC SEALING AND THE CONDITION OF THE HERD. 

As has already been stated, the decline in the herd from year to year is found in 
the relation of the losses siistained by the adult females to the gains of this class 
through the accession of three-year-old females as breeders. The losses through 
natural causes can only be roughly estimated, but they may be assumed as constant. 
If females are to be killed at sea or elsewhere, the herd must decline so long as the 
number killed exceeds the additions to the herd. 

The number of animals to return as three-year-olds year by year is, under natural 
conditions, at present about 33i^ per cent of the pups born. One-half of these are 
females. Thus, of 150,000 pups born in a given year, 75,000 are males and 75,000 
females. Of the males about 25,000 return as killable tlaree-y ear-olds, and of the 
females 25,000 return as three-year-olds to bear their first pups, fn other words, 
one-sixth of the total number of pups born survive to become breeders. 

Let us assume for some year the presence of 180,000 cows. Of these, 150,000 
would be old cows and 30.000 cows bearing their first pups, these latter being the 
remnant of some 90.000 female pups born three years before. We may estimate 
the herd to have lost about ten per cent from storms, old age, attacks of enemies, 
and other causes. This is equivalent to the assumption that the average age 
attained by a female who has once entered the herd will be 13 years, or ten years 
of breeding life. 

There would then have been a gain of 30,000 cows in the year in qiaestion and a 
loss of 18,000, leaving a net gain of 12,000 cows. Under such conditions, with no 
artificial cause at work, the herd would increase. Or, it would be possible to take 
out of the herd of 180,000 breeding cows 12,000 without causing a reduction, pro- 
vided they were taken under conditions which would not cause reduction in the 
number of pups through starvation. But for practically every cow killed in 
Bering Sea a pup starves to death. With every cow killed, also, an unborn pup 
dies. Thus a secondary loss isentailed by the killing of the 12,000 breeding females, 
which would still cause a decline in the herd. In other words, if we take this 
secondary loss into account, we find that under the conditions outlined above the 
number of females that can safely be taken from a herd of 180.000 can not much 
exceed 8,000. This is ii per cent of the total breeding herd, and it represents the 
danger point, beyond which pelagic sealing or any killing of females cuts into the 
herd and destroys it by compound interest. If the herd "is to grow at all, its loss 
of females must not exceed about 3 percent, and the percentage must be progress- 
ively lowered, unless means is found for reducing the so called natural losses. 
These losses have been proportionately greater in the greater herd. 

In the herd as estimated at its prinie there were not less than 600,000 breeding 
females. Applying the limit of 3 per cent above found, this would permit of the 
killing of 18,000 females. It is probable that under the crowded conditions of the 



25 

rookeries in those days even this per cent was too great. By referring to the pelagic 
catch we find that in 1882 it numbered 15,500 animals actually taken, Ijut as in the 
early days many more seals were killed than were secured, this number is too 
small. Without, however, attempting to estimate the actual loss, we see that it 
could easily have been more than the herd could bear. Under it and with its 
steady increase the equilibrium was broken and the decline began, increasing in 
rapidity until 1890, when the pelagic catch equalled 10 per cent of the original 
number of females, though we have every reason to believe that at that time the 
herd had diminished by at least one-half. 

FUTURE DECLINE OF THE HERD. 

For the year 1898 there will be a still further accentuation of the decline of the 
herd through the after effects of pelagic sealing, and the decrease in the breeding 
herd will continue whether pelagic sealing does or does not go on. The reduced 
catch made by the much smaller fleet of the present season will diminish the 
direct loss through the death of breeding females. But in addition to this there 
will be the loss of pups starved in 1895 and of unborn pups killed with pregnant 
females during the summer of 1894 and the spring of 1895, for every adult female 
killed at sea is pregnant, and those killed in Bering Sea, for the most part, leave 
dependent pups to starve. 

Thus the effects of pelagic sealing must continue to be felt for three years after 
the industry itself had ceased to exist. If pelagic sealing were to be at once sus- 
pended, through the starvation of pups this fall and through the death of unborn 
pups last fall and this spring, the rookeries must continue to shrink until 1900 or 
1901. 

THE FATE OF PELAGIC SEALING. 

The relation of pelagic sealing to the fate of the fur-seal herd has already been 
discussed. It is clear that through its operations the fur-seal herd has been com- 
mercially ruined. With its continuance the herd must soon approximate, though, 
of course, not actually reach, biological extermination. 

It is worthwhile, also, in this connection to note the effect of the pelagic-sealing 
industry on itself. The following tabulation of the pelagic catches from the Pribi- 
lof herd since 1894 will clearly show the waning condition of pelagic sealing: 

Pelagic catches, 1894-1897. 





North- 
west coast. 


Bering 
Sea. 


1894 


24,101 
13,123 

14,417 
8,423 


31, 58.5 


189.5 . 


a 44, 169 


1896 . - 


29,500 


1897 


16,657 







a In 1895 there were 59 vessels engaged in sealing, as against 37 in 1894. 

The fact that scarcely one-half the pelagic fleet of 1896 entered the seas in 1897 
shows on the face of it that the industry had already in 1896 ceased to be profitable. 
Such a result is a necessary outcome of the fact that as an industry it destroys its 
own capital. If pelagic sealing continues, more vessels will doubtless withdraw 
from the business, but a diminished fleet will work upon a diminished herd and the 
resu.lt vv;ill continue to be disastrous to the fur seals. 

MORTALITY AMONG NURSING PUPS. 

GREAT MORTALITY PRIOR TO AUGUST 1. 

During the season of 1896 our investigations showed that there was a very great 
mortality among the niirsing pups prior to the 1st of August. At the time when 
this discover}^ was made the cause of death had practically ceased to exist and the 
great mass of the dead were too far decomposed to make it possible to examine 
them. Such bodies as were still in condition were dissected, and the immediate 
cause of death in many cases was found to be trampling. The mortality being 
greatest on those level, sandy areas where the seals were most thickly massed and 
the greatest amount of fighting observed, the trampling of bulls was ascribed as 
a general cause for the death of pups prior to the 1st of August. 



26 

DEATHS DUE TO PARASITIC WORM. 

Profiting by our experience of last year, however, this mortalitj?^ was reinvesti- 
gated this year from its beginning, in the height of the season, and found to be due 
in large measure not to trampling, but to the ravages of a parasitic worm, espe- 
cially infesting the sandy areas which were last year designated as "death-traps."' 
The conditions favorable for the development of the worm are identical with those 
favorable for the trampling of pups. As a matter of fact, the pup which is weak- 
ened by the worm falls victim to the trampling feet of the bulls and cows where 
its more healthy and active companions escape. Thus the two causes of death 
interact and promote one another. The worm, however, is beyond question the 
chief source of death, and death from trampling is doiibtless mainly confined to 
very young pups. 

The subject of mortality among the fur-seal pups was specially investigated by 
Mr. Lucas, and in Appendix II of this report will be found a detailed account of 
his work. It is only necessary here to point out in this connection that the find- 
ing of this cause of death among the pups adds no new complication to the ques- 
tion. Like trampling and other natural causes of death, it has been at work 
throughout the history of the herd. It represents, together with the losses to 
which the young seals are subjected at sea, the check which prevented the indefi- 
nite increase of the fur-seal herd in the days of its prosperity. As a cause of loss 
it acted with greater force when the herd was larger. It has diminished year by 
year with the decline of the herd. This year the infected rookery grounds were 
so thinly populated that the deaths from this cause were reduced to less than one- 
half the number in 1896, as the following list of the rookeries counted will show: 

Dead pups August 10. 
Rookery. 

Tolstoi Sand Flat and adjacent beach 

Zapadni Gullies and adjacent beaches 

Gor batch 

Reef 

For this shrinkage of deaths on the massed rookeries there was no corresponding 
reduction on the rocky beaches. There conditions were normal and the percent- 
age of loss remained practically the same. On the infected grounds the deaths 
were in proportion to the crowded condition of the rookeries. Under normal 
condition, such as rocky breeding grounds represent, the deaths are due to acci- 
dental causes, and naturally do not vary much from year to year. 

RECOJEMENDED TREATMENT OF INFECTED AREAS. 

Last year, on the supposition that the mortality was caused chiefly by tramp- 
ling, we recommended that the open and flat rookeries be covered with bowlders. 
This should still be done, but the sand should, wherever possible, be washed away 
and the covering of rocks should be complete enough to be a virtual floor over the 
infected areas. As will be seen from Colonel Murray's statement in Appendix III 
of this report, an important beginning has been made in this direction during the 
present season. By the breaking up of the rocks and by the use of dynamite more 
can be done. 

Perhaps the most effective measure of all in the treatment of the " death-traps " 
would be to fence the seals away from them. The animals show a desire to avoid 
these places, but they have little choice in the matter. With the herd increased 
in size the occupation of the entire sand flat of Tolstoi is a matter of necessity. 
The ground above and behind this, however, is suitable for rookery purposes, and 
if in some way the sand flat can be broken up or shut off the seals will seek the 
better gi-ound. During the past year but few seals occupied the sand flat. The 
bowlder beach was ample for the great mass of them. On the part of the sand flat 
occupied the death rate of pups was quite as great as last year, but the space occu- 
pied was but a fraction of the whole. 

PERCENTAGE OF DEATHS FROM UNCINARIA. 

It is probable that the number of pups dying of Uncinaria in 1896 was from 7 
to 10 per cent of the whole number born. In 1897 it was about 5 to 7 per cent. 
This loss, taken in connection with other natural losses, only demonstrates the low 
margin of natural increase in the herd and emphasizes more clearly the disastrous 
effects of the added artificial source of loss which pelagic sealing entails. 




27 

THE STARVATION OP PUPS. 

SPECIAL STUDY IN 1890. 

During the season of 1896 the starvation of pups as a result of the death of their 
motiiers at sea was made the subject of special study as late as the 20tli of 
October. A count of the pups which starved to death in that season was made 
about October 1, and a total of 16,000 found. This count was made under unfa- 
vorable conditions in that it was necessary to recount in October the early dead 
piips and deduct them from the total then found. It was impossible to estimate 
accurately how many of the early dead had become unrecognizable. There was 
reason to believe that on St. George Island none remained, the foxes having eaten 
them all. At the same time the total estimate of 16,000 represented an actual 
minimum, and was sufficiently large to demonstrate the evil eifects of pelagic 
sealing. 

INVESTIGATIONS OF 1S9V. 

During the season of 1897 an effort was made to get more satisfactory results 
in the counting of starved pups, and accordingly all the dead pups to be found on 
Kitovi and Lukanin rookeries were carefully gathered up on August 13 and 
removed. On the loth of October these rookei'ies were again counted, and a total 
of 1,057 dead pups were found. A preliminary count made on August 25 shows 
that the deaths from starvation up to that time had not been great. The great 
majority died in September. This is as was to be expected. Pelagic sealing begins 
August 1 , and it takes from two weeks to a month, according to its age, to starve 
a pup. Pelagic sealing ceases about the middle of September, and by the middle 
of October all pups whose mothers have been killed during the season have died. 

There were, in round numbers, about 9,500 pups born on Kitovi and Lukanin 
rookeries. The number of starved pups (1,057) was therefore about 11 per cent of 
the number born. Applying this percentage to the total pups born on the two 
island?, the number starved to death the present season must have been about 
14,000. In 1S96 Mr. Andrew Halkett found a percentage of 84.3 females in the 
pelagic catch in Bering Sea. Fi*om the closer killing of males in 1897 we have good 
reason to believe that the percentage for this season was even greater. The per- 
centage of females in the northwest catch this spring was itself 93. Placing the 
percentage of females taken in Bering Sea for 1897 at 90, we have 15,000 females 
killed. Allowing for the fact that some had already lost their pups from natural 
causes and that a few were too yoting to have borne i)ups, but also remembering 
that a certain proportion of the seals killed at sea are not secured, we find that the 
estimate of 14,000 starved pups for the season of 1897 fully satisfies the conditions 
of the problem, and is in turn accounted for by the known loss of mothers. 

Having in mind these very definite figures for the season of 1897, we can at once 
determine the inadequacy of our estimate for 1890. There were taken in Bering 
Sea in August and September, 1896. 29.500 seals, of which, iising Mr. Halkett's 
percentage, 24,700 were females; and this figure less the number of immature cows 
and those whose pups had died from natural causes, rather than the count of 16,000, 
should represent the actual number of pups which starved to death in 1896. Or, 
taking the double proportion of the total number killed at sea and the total num- 
ber born in 1896, we find that the total niimber starved on Lukanin and Kitovi in 
1896 should have been about 1,576, instead of 943, as counted and estimated. For 
the two islands this would give about 32.000 instead of 16.000. It is in any case 
perfectly clear that the assumption made by Clark and Macoun in 1896 that 20 per 
cent of the early dead had been lost or obliterated before the late counts at thelst 
of October were made is far short of the truth. This is made clear also by a study 
of the fate of the dead bodies under the attacks of the gulls and foxes and of the 
elements themselves. 

It is worthy of note in this connection that Dr. Stejneger (see Appendix II) 
found late in the season of 1897 a considerable mortality from starvation among 
the pups on Bering Island. In the portion of North rookery which he counted on 
September 27, he found 573 which had plainly died from this cause. He was pre- 
vented from making a full investigation of the subject, but the result of the par- 
tial count is sufficient to show there, as on the Pribilof Islands, the destructive 
effects of pelagic sealing, 

EVERY MOTHERLESS PUP STARVES. 

It is not necessary to dwell here upon the dependence of the imweaned pup upon 
its mother. The killing of more than a score of pups in 1896 at intervals during 
the months of September and October clearly demonstrated the fact that the pups 



28 

subsist solely upon their mothers' milk as late at least as the 20th of October, when 
the last observations by the Commission were made. The continued observations 
of Chief Agent Crowley in the month of November and until the final departure 
of the pui)s the first week of December showed that during all this time the cows 
nursed their pups regularly, and the stomachs of pups killed as late as the 5th of 
December contained nothing but milk. Under such circumstances it is impossible 
to conchide otherwise than that every pup whose mother dies before it is weaned 
must starve to death. 

As the starvation of pups in 1894 manifested itself in the depleted numbers of 
killable seals and young breeders during the season of 1897, so the 14,000 pups 
starved to death in 1897 will inflict additional loss upon the hauling and breeding 
grounds in 1900. 

THE REGULATIONS OF THE PARIS AWARD. 

A reconsideration of the entire subject affords no reason for changing what was 
said last year concerning the utter inadequacy of the regulations of the Paris 
award to fulfill their avowed purpose, the "protection and preservation" of the 
fur-seal herd. This year discloses, through the dearth of killable seals and young 
breeders caused by their destruction as pups in 1894 and ]89.j, even more plainly 
than last year the disastrous effects of the resumption of pelagic sealing under the 
award. During the present season the pelagic fleet has been largely reduced 
because of the unprofitableness of the bitsiness in 189(5. At the same time upwards 
of 14,000 breeding females and their dependent pups have been destroyed, and 
there is no possibility that under the regulations the destruction can be stayed 
until the herd is reduced to the equilibrium of utter insignificance. As the regu- 
lations are helpless to prevent the decline of the herd, so are they naturally help- 
less to bring about its restoration. 

THE BRANDING OF PUPS. 

The work of branding pups was left in charge of Col. Joseph Murray, chief agent 
on the islands, who last year, as an assistant to the commission, inaugurated the work. 
Colonel Murray began the work of branding early in September on St. Paul Island, 
and working parts of six days was able to brand 5,371 pups and 118 cows. During 
the same period Mr. James Judge, agent in charge of St. George Island, branded 
1,880 pups on that island. In all, therefore, there were branded on the Pribilof 
Islands in the season of 1897, 7,251 pups and 118 adult cows. 

A full account of the work of branding is given in Colonel Murraj-'s report, wliich 
appears in Appendix III. The practical experience of Colonel Murray in the hand- 
ling of cattle on the plains of Colorado gives added weight to his opinions on the 
branding and herding of the seals. In his judgment botli plans are entirely feasi- 
ble, and would, if carried to their logical conclusion, furnish the solution of the 
whole fur-seal question. 

METHOD OF BRANDING. 

The method of branding used this year, as last, was the red-hot iron, heated on 
a portable forge. It was desired this season to make experiments in the use of an 
electrical cautery, and a machine for this purpose was taken to the islands by Mr. 
Elmer E. Farmer, instructor in electrical engineering in Stanford University. A 
preliminary test of the apparatus proved that too little powev was provided for. the 
density and oiliness of the fur of the seal making greater demands upon the cur- 
rent than did the fur of the cats and dogs upon which the experiments in con- 
structing the apparatus had been niade. 

The defect in this regard was in great measure removed by the application of 
additional power, but the apparatus being not quite perfect, it was set aside by 
Colonel Murray, and the irons, which* he had tested and with which he was thor- 
oughly familiar, were used instead. 

The tests of the electrical cautery were, however, sufficient to demonstrate the 
entire feasibility of the use of electricity in the work of branding. Should it 
become necessary to make the branding general, the electrical apparatus should be 
perfected. The advantage of the cautery over the iron is evident and great. By 
its means the extent of the burning can be more readily controlled, a greater va- 
riety of marks can be made, and the operation is practically painless. 

EFFECTIVENESS OF BRANDING. 

Of the effectiveness of branding to destroy the value of the skin without injury 
to the animals we had abundant proof before leaving the islands. Eleven adult 



29 

females were branded last season, and during the summer of 1897 five of them were 
seen on the rookeries in good condition and with pups. The brands were perfectly 
distinct. There was no replacement of the fur and the animals gave no evidence 
of having been adversely affected. 

None of the branded yearlings were seen by us, as they had not before our 
departure begun to arrive in numbers at the islands. A branded skin, however, was 
taken by the Aleuts during the winter at Akun Island. It was obtained by iis and 
tanned for preservation. Later in the season Colonel Murray reports seeing many 
of the branded yearlings "hale and hearty " on the rookeries. 

The yearling females come late to the islands, after the breeding season is over, 
and play about among the pups of the year. There is no evidence that in their case 
any more than in that of the cows has any adverse results followed the branding. 
As pups they were certainly too yoking to remember such matters. That the adults 
returned is abundant proof that branding will not drive the animals away, if, 
indeed, proof was needed, for no one at all familiar with the habits of the animal 
has ever supposed that any incident of this kind could affect their natural instincts. 

The grade of intelligence of the fur seal is too low to cause it to take note of 
anything which happens to it. The driving and redriving of the bachelors from 
the hauling grounds, their culling on the killing field and return to the sea, fur- 
nish a conclusive test of the effect of any operation on the seals. If any class of 
the animals would be disturbed by the treatment accorded them by man, it would 
be the bachelors. 

BRANDED SEALS NOT TAKEN ON ASIATIC SIDE. 

It has been claimed during the past season that branded seals were taken on the 
Asiatic side and that they were animals which had crossed over from the Pribilof 
Islands. Such a claim is absurd on the face of it, as the herds on the two sides of 
the ocean do not intermingle, and they belong, in fact, to distinct species or sub- 
species. See Appendix. But an examination of the catch of the schooner St. 
Laicrexce, said to have taken the skins, failed to find them, and the master of the 
vessel made affidavit that not only had he not taken any branded skins, but he had 
not even heard of any being taken on the Asiatic side. 

If there is any foundation for these rumors it lies in the fact that a certain 
number of seals have defective spots in their fur. At every killing animals are 
turned away solely on this account. In some cases the defect is due to a bite 
which has left a scar in healing, or to some disease which destroys the hair or 
causes the animals to wear it off by scratching, leaving the brown fur underneath 
exposed. Several skins of this sort were taken this season, with a view, if jiossi- 
ble, to determining the cause of the defect, but no cause for the phenomenon has 
been yet ascertained. 

THE HERDING OF THE BACHELORS. 

INCLOSURE OF THE SALT LAGOON. 

During the present season the Salt Lagoon, on St. Paul Island, was inclosed with 
a wire fence, ' and about the 1st of September the bachelors found on the hauling 
grounds within reach of the inclosure were driven up and confined within it. The 
details of this experiment, as well as that of branding, will be found in Colonel 
Murray's report (Appendix III). It was evidently, entirely successful. 

The delay in getting the wire fencing landed made it imiiossible to put the 
inclosure to much practical use for the present season. During the month of Sep- 
tember the bachelors are absent from the islands more constantly than during 
any other part of the season. The proper time to utilize the lagoon is in the month 
of August. In the latter half of Jiily the younger males arrive in large niimbers. 
In the closing days of the month they should be driven up daily and confined in 
the lagoon during the month of August, or as long as they can be retained. Other 
bodies of water in other parts of St. Paul, as Webster Lake and Lake Anton, may 
also be fenced. The herding up of these young males to the number of 50,000 to 
75,000 during the best month of the sealing season can not fail to affect in an appre- 
ciable degree the pelagic catch. 

It is also desirable to use this enclosure in the killing season to confine the fur 
seals rejected from the drives, and to prevent the redriving of those too old or too 
young to be killed. 

' The wire fence used was that made by the De Kalb Company and was designed 
for fencing hogs. 



30 

What may or may not be done in the future with these two practical experi- 
ments in the handling of the fur seals will depend upon the disposition made of 
the fur-seal question. It is sufficient here to remark that both are entirely feas- 
ible, and their combined effect would destroy pelagic sealing. 

THE FOOD OF THE FUR SEAL. 

FOOD IN BERING SEA. 

As the question has been raised as to the probable effect of the fur seals upon 
the salmon and other fisheries of the west coast, it may be said that the examina- 
tion of several hvmdred stomachs shows that the food of the fur seal in Bering Sea 
consists mainly of squid, Alaskan pollock, and a small, smelt-like fish unknown 
save through bones obtained from the seals. The squid is of no direct value to 
man, the pollock has never been taken for economic purposes, and the "seal-fish" 
never been taken at all by man. 

FOOD OFF THE NORTHWEST COAST, 

The food of the fur seal off the northwest coast is less perfectly known, but. so 
far as is known, consists mainly of sqiiid. though salmon, herring, and rockfish 
are eaten. The feeding grounds of the seals lie for the most part outside the hun- 
dred-fathom line, so that it is not likely that they disturb the salmon of the Columbia 
or other rivers to any appreciable degree. The fact that the most important sal- 
mon stream o^; the Commander Islands is only 7 miles from the largest rookery, 
and that it has never been affected in the least by the presence of the seals should 
be proof conclusive that they have no preference for this fish as an article ot food. 

It maj' further be added that twenty years ago, when the seals were most abun- 
dant, the salmon fisheries were also at their best. 

UNWARRANTABLE ASSUMPTIONS. 

The charge of destruction to the salmon made against the fur seaL is based 
largely upon the supposed feeding of the sea lions from the Farallones upon this 
fish in the Bay of San Francisco. The sea lions and hair seals on the seal rocks 
just south of False Tillamook are in like manner charged with injuring the salmon 
fishing in the Columbia. It remains to be proven that even the sea lions and hair 
seal do any very screat damage in this way, but if they did this does not prove the 
case against tiie fur seals, which do not frequent any shores but the Pribilof Islands, 

THE PROPOSED SLAUGHTER OF THE FUR SEALS. 

WOULD NOT ACCOMPLISH THE DESIRED END. 

Within the past two years it has several times been proposed that we should set- 
tle the fur-seal question once for all by the slaughter of the entire herd on its breed- 
ing grounds. It is scarcely necessary to j)oint out that this course of action would 
not accomplish the desired end. As the animals are never all present at one time 
on the islands, a remnant must be left which would in time revive the herd and 
with it the whole question. In the meantime every objection which has been 
urged against pelagic sealing would be justly chargeable against such a slaughter. 
It'would be necessary to lie in wait for the gi-avid females and kill them as they 
came on land to give birth to their young oi to jjrovide them Avith nourishment. 
The young must be slaughtered wantonly or else left to starve. The whole propo- 
sition is an abominable one, without a single redeeming feature. 

The fur seal is the noblest of all the mammals of the sea. From the naturalist's 
point of view it is one of the most interesting forms of life on the earth: from a 
commercial point of view it is one of the most valuable. Unlike the buffalo, the 
elk, the stag, and like animals, it occupies territory that can not be used for any 
other purpose. Where the former animals once roamed great cities have since 
grown up, but the haunts of the fur seal would be deserted for all time if their 
inhabitants were destroyed. 

POSSIBLE RESTORATION OF THE HERD. 

Though sadly reduced in numbers, a nucleus of the fur-seal herd is still left. 
Under favorable conditions it can be restored. The Pribilof herd once yielded 
100,000 skins annually, worth $2,000,000 or more, and without injury to itself. 
This would re resent a cash value of $25,000,000, If properly protected it will 
again reach this value. These figures represent a sum too great to be thrown 
away in childish spite. To slaughter the fur-seal herd ourselves because its 



31 

preservation is beset with diplomatic difficulties, in which the fa nit has not been 
all on one side, would be a confession of impotence unworthy of a civilized nation. 
It would transfer to the United States alone and for all time the odium for the 
destruction of the fur-eeal herds. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

I 

In closing this report we may submit here as a result of the work of the com- 
mission during- the seasons of 1896 and 1897 the following answers to the propo- 
sitions suggested as the object of the investigation: 

1. The American fur-seal herd is at present about one-fifth its maximum size 
and is rapidly declining in numbers. It is already commercially ruined; but a 
nucleus of breeding animals remains which under proper conditions will insure 
the rehabilitation of the herd. 

2. The threatened extermination of the fur-seal herd is solelj^ due to pelagic 
sealing, which involves the slaughter of gravid and nursing females, with the con- 
sequent destruction of their offspring. The imminence of the danger threatening 
the herd maj" be j udged hj the total loss which it has sustained to the present 
time, and by the fact that its present rate of decline is not less tban 12 per cent 
yearly of its breeding females. 

3. The regulations framed under the award of the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration, 
while affording in the protected zone and the close season some slight advantage 
to the herd, are wholly ineffective for its protection and preservation. Under 
their operation the herd has steadily and rapidly declined, and is still declining. 

4. To insiTre the preservation of the fur-seal herd and its iiltiiuate restoration 
the regulations miist be so amended as to prohibit absolutely the killing of females 
and the traffic in their skins. In other words, they must be made to prohibit 
pelagic sealing. 



Appendix I. 

REPORT ON DEATH OF PUPS FROM UNCINARIA.' 

By Frederic A. Lucas. 

Among the parasites collected in 1896 were a few small nematode worms which 
were identified by Dr. C. W. Stiles, of the Bureau of Animal Industry, as belong- 
ing to the genus Uncinaria, a dangerous parasite of the dog and man. Dr. Stiles 
reported that if this parasite were found to be abundant, it would probably 
prove dangerous to the seals on densely occupied spots that were favorable to its 
development. 

AUTOPSY OF FIRST PUP SECURED. 

In our investigations for 1897 the first pui^ secured for dissection was obtained 
from Lukanin rookery on July 24, although it was noted as dead on the 23d. No 
part of this rookery was crowded, and the dead pup lay on a sandy spot strewn 
with bowlders. On examination it proved to be fat, and the stomach contained a 
quantity of milk. There were no bruises iand no sign of disease save a slight dis- 
coloration of the median part of the small intestine, which might have been due to 
decomposition. The intestine was, however, slightly nodular or swollen in spots 
in this discolored area, and on cutting open the nodes the mucous membrane was 
found to be broken down and the swollen spots filled with mucus and blood. 
Moreover, in each of these swellings there were a number of Uncinaria, the total 
number in the three feet of intestine affected being large. The flesh was pale, and 
but little blood, and this thin and watery, present in the heart and large vessels, 
the indications being clear that death had resulted from loss of blood and general 
anaemia produced by the attacks of Uncinaria. 

NUMBER OF PUPS EXAMINED. 

From this date until the 4th of September some 345 pups were dissected, reveal- 
ing the existence of Uncinaria in all localities favorable to the disease, and show- 
ing that it was by far the most important factor in the natural death rate among 
piips from known causes whose effects may be determined. I left the islands on 
the 20th of August, but the dissection of pups was continued most actively by 
Messrs. Robert E. Snodgrass and Arthur W. Greeley, of Stanford University, up 
to the date of their departure, September 11. 

DURATION OF THE DISEASE. 

From our combined observations it would seem that the disease is at its height 
from July 15 or 20 to August 20, and that it ceases by the 1st of September. In 
1896 no pup that had not obviously starved to death was noted after August 22, and 
in 1897 but two cases of Uncinaria were seen after September 1. Up to the 10th 
of August, at which date the effects of pelagic sealing in the starvation of pups are 
little felt, the number of deaths from Uncinaria exceeds that from all other causes 
combined; and while many young seals undoubtedly recover, it would seem that in 
the majority of cases the attack is siafficiently severe to cause death. 

While many apparently strong and healthy pups suffer from Uncinaria, those 
dangerously attacked inay iTsually be recognized by their sleepy appearance — the 
eyes being dull and partly closed — by the unkempt appearance of the coat, and by 
their lack of vigor. Two of the three blind pups killed for examination were 
seriously infected with Uncinaria, one, which was remarkably strong and active, 
having reached the stage in which the intestine is thick and white. 

• ' An abridgment of the fuller discussion prepared for the final report. 
33 



33 

SYMPTOMS. 

When it is possible to get at the sick pups they are found to lack the spirit and 
bad temper of healthy animals, allowing- themselves to be handled, and apparently 
enjoying being rubbed. One of the effects of the disease seems to be to make the 
pups restless and to cause them to wander away from the rookery limits, some- 
times to very considerable distances, and it is probable that young seals observed 
in 1896 and recorded as stragglers were afflicted with a fatal attack of UiLcinaria. 

The blood of animals suffering from Unciuaria is small in quantity, deficient in 
red corpuscles, thin and watery, and in extreme cases will not coagulate. The 
flesh is anaemic, eo much so in typical examples that the cause of death is revealed 
at the first stroke of the knife. The lungs are pale, and particularly the kidneys. 
At the same time, while the animals are somewhat flabby, they have every appear- 
ance of being well nourished, and unless death has resulted from a combination of 
Uncinaria and starvation, the bodies are enveloped in a thick coat of blubber, 
death coming before there is time to get thin. Thus the pups which have died 
from Uncinaria can always be told from those which have died from starvation, 
and the intermediate cases where death has resulted from starvation following an 
attack of the parasite are also readily recognizable. 

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE DISEASE AND CHARACTER OF GROUND. 

The sandy areas are not only favorable for the retention and development of the 
embryos of Uncinaria, but favorable to their transmission to the pups, for the reason 
that the females in lying on or moving over the sand get more or less of it in their 
coats, and a part of this is swallowed bj- the nursing pups. So much is sometimes 
swallowed as to give the milk a slightly grayish cast, the milk being so thick that 
sand does not settle in it. 

On rocky ground the embryos are readily blown or washed off, while on boulder 
beaches, such as the Lagoon and Zapadni Reef, the embryos are still more readily 
washed away, and many fall among the crevices of the rocks at the outset and are 
lost. There is thus much less chance on rocky ground of the embryos being present 
to adhere to the coats of the female seals, and the animals are also unable to pack 
as closely together as they do on flat places. 

As the damage done by Uncinaria bears a direct relation to the character of the 
ground and the number of seals present, the losses from this cause in past times 
must have been enormous, although in most places there is little apparent evidence 
of past destruction. Still, when one stands on the slope above the eastern end of 
Tolstoi and looks at the sands below, they seem grey with the whitening bones of 
thousands of pups, covering territory occupied when the rookeries were in their 
prime, but which has been vacant for at least eight years. The dead pups seen by 
the British commissioners. in 1891 and 1893, and also by Colonel Miirray in the 
latter year, were the victims of Uncinaria. 

WHY THE MORTALITY HAS BEEN UNNOTICED. 

That this great mortality has gone on year after year practically unnoticed is 
not so remarkable as it might seem. At the time the deaths are most numerous 
it is quite out of the question to enter the rookeries, and most of the dead are hid- 
den from view by the dense massesof breeding seals; naturally, also, the more abun- 
dant the seals, as in years gone by. the more difficult would it be to examine the 
breeding grounds. During the height of the season it is impossible to avoid dis- 
turbing the seals if the necessary examinations are made, and until 1896 no such 
examinations were permitted. After the breeding season was over no attention 
has ever been paid to the rookery grounds. Hence year after year thousands of 
pups have died and no one has been any the wiser. It is not possible, unless one 
has actually gone over a rookery foot by foot and counted every dead seal, to 
realize the actual number of the dead present. Thus, on the sands of Tolstoi, where, 
during the breeding season of 1896. there appeared to be not over 120 bodies, a com- 
plete count showed 1,495; while on the flat portion of Polovina, where 584 dead 
pups were found. Professor Thompson and myself, on Jiily 28, could see only 8. 

Then, too, on many places the bodies of the dead rapidly disintegrate and dis- 
appear. Gulls begin the scavenger work, flies and foxes continue it, and rain and 
wind sweep up what remains; or in the denser portion of the rookery grounds the 
grinding of hundreds of flippers and the drifting of the sand soon remove all traces 
of the dead, and in a few months a scattered bone or two, which will serve as 
playthings for next year's pups, is all that remains to tell the tale. 

Now and then, however, some traces of the former destruction of pups comes 
to light, as in 1896, when a dry October gale swept over St. Paul, removing the 
sand in places to a considerable depth, laying bare the bones of numberless pups 

9SG8 .3 



34 



long buried in the sand flat of Tolstoi. Here, where a short time before only a 
bone or two was visible, fragments of 336 skulls were counted in a space of 39 by 
43 feet. 

CESSATION OF PLAGUE. 

As previously noted, the plague of Uncinaria ceases about the end of August, 
and its cessation appears to bear a direct relation to the habits of the pups, who 
by that time pass more or less of their time in the water, where the faeces are for 
the most part voided. The embryos of Uncinaria, therefore, pass into the water 
and perish, instead of falling on theground, where they may readily be taken up 
by the seals. 

Snmmari/ of dissections on Sf. Paul in 1S97. divided into i^eriods of five da/ys. 









Cause of death. 






Date. 


Starva- 
tion. 


Uncina- 
ria 


Uncina- 
ria plus 
starva- 
tion. 


Vio- 
lence. 


Sundry 


Un- 
known. 


Total. 


July 25 


3 
5 

15 

34 
9 
6 

25 
5 

86 


1 
13 

18 

;« 

13 
33 
3 
13 




2 
3 




1 


6 


30 -- 




2 

i 

1 


23 




4 
4 

1 

3 

1 
7 


4 


40 


10 


68 


15 


18 


20 






1 

3 


21 


25 




1 


54 


30 


9 


Sept. 5 




1 


1 


107 








Total 


177 


133 


22 


9 


6 


9 


345 



Summari/ of dissections on Tolstoi bettveen July £8 and September 4. 





Cause of death. 


Date. 


Starva- 
tion. 


Uncina- 
ria. 


Starva- 
tion plus 
Unci- 
naria. 


Sundry. 


Un- 
known 


Total. 


July28 


1 
3 
1 


3 

6 
6 

6 
5 
10 








3 


3t 




1 




9 




■ 1 
1 




8 


^11 " ::::;; 






3 


14 _... 








6 


19 


3 
13 






1 

3 


8 


33 ... 






23 


24 


5 1 3 
5 3 








37 


1 
3 
3 






9 


Sept 1 


16 
6 


3 






21 


4 . 


2 


1 


10 








Total 


50 


44 


8 


3 


4 


109 







Summary of dissections by rookeries. 



Rookery. 


Dates. 


Star- 
vation. 


Unci- 
naria. 


Starva- 
tion plus 
Unci- 
naria. 


Vio- 
lence. 


Sun- 
dry. 


Un- 
known. 


Total. 






3 

3 

3 

10 

43 

16 

4 

50 

47 


5 

5 
4 
6 
10 

14 


2 

1 
3 
1 

1 








10 




July 31 


1 


1 




10 




July 34, 35, 36; Aug. 1,13 
.July 36; Aug. 3. 12,14,... 
July 19, 37; Aug. 2, 5, 9, 

16; Sept. 1. 

Aug, 4, 16; Sept.l 

Aiig.3. - 

July28,39; Aug.7.11,14, 

19,33,34,37; Sept. 1,4. 
July30;Aug.7,3i;Sept.4 


13 








17 


Reef 


3 

1 






53 


Gorbatch 

Lagoon 

Tolstoi - 

Zapadni. 





1 


33 

4 


44 
34 


8 
4 


2 


3 

3 


* 

4 


109 
93 


Total.. 


177 


133 


33 


9 


6 


9 


345 













35 

Piq)s contaming Uncinmia, bxt not in sufficient numbers to iirove fatal. 

Blind and killed for examination 3 

Trampled 2 

Starved and killed 1 

Starved on St. Paul 6 

Starved on St. George 4 

Condition of TJncinariated pups. 

Stomach full .- 14 

Stomach partly full 9 

Stomach empty. . - - 6 

Total 39 



Appendix II. 

THE ROOKERIES OF THE COMMANDER ISLANDS.' 

By Leoxhard Ste-jneger. 
BERING ISLAND NORTH ROOKERY. 

This rookery was visited by me twice during the height of the season of 1897, 
first on Julv 13 and second on July 16, It was at once evident that the number 
of females had greatly decreased since I inspected it in 1895. The characteristic 
outline of the breeding mass had not only disappeared, but there was a general 
thinness of the ranks and the "massed" patches had shrivelled up to an ominous 
degree. The best portion is still the western side of the sand, but even here the 
decjrease was noticeable, while to the north of this the density showed the greatest 
falling off. The "sands" were fringed all around, though on the east side there 
were now actual breaks in the continuity of the line. 

ESTIMATE OF NUMBER OF SEALS ON REEF. 

Prof. Thompson, who accompanied me at n'y first visit, suggested that we make 
a rough estimate of the number of females actually on the ground, and we conse- 
quently counted, independently, a section at the eastern end of the "sands." find- 
ing it to contain 600 females and 10 bulls. Estimating that the ground so counted 
was one-fifteenth of the whole rookery, there were about 9,000 to 10,000 females 
and about 150 bulls, all told, on this breeding ground. 

NUMBER OF SEALS ON KISHOTCHNAYA. 

We next went to Kishotchnaya and found a similar state of affairs. There was 
not a seal above the steep bevel of the beach, and not one on the upper flat shingly 
portion which I have called the "parade." In 1895 the lateral sections of this 
rookery extended a considerable distance backward, leaving the middle section 
bare to the bevel, but all the harems situated there had disappeared in 1897. and the 
number of harems appeared one-half less. In 1895 I had to keep concealed behind 
a large stone, so as not to disturb the nearest harems, scarcely 10 yards away. At 
the time of our visit in 1897 Prof, Thompson stood upright on the top of this rock 
without the seals on the level even noticing his presence, 

A cursory and rather superficial count of the females gave about 600 for the 
northern and 700 for the southern section of this rookery. Allowing 900 for the mid- 
dle section, the total was about 3.200 females, certainly a maximum estimate. A 
subsequent count, on the 16th of July, increased this estimate to about 3,000, 
including such seals as were seen in the water. The day was an ideal one, and 
doubtless the maximum number of seals were on the shore, 

SOUTH ROOKERY— NUMBER OP PUPS AND FEMALES, 

I spent from July 24 to 30 on South rookery in company with Mr, Barrett-Ham- 
ilton of the British commission. We undertook a count of the live pups on this 
rookery, which is small and situated under a cliff affording good facilities for 



' Condensed from a fuller discussion prepared for the final report. 



36 

observation. An average of 7 different counts of this rookery gave 526 pups, which 
may be accepted as nearly exact. Similar counts of females gave a total of 449, 
including all seals that were seen in the sea in the vicinity of the rookeries. The 
average number of females in harems on shore was 33G, an average of 9 counts. 
These latter counts correspond to those made on the Pribilof rookeries, and show 
practically the same relation of pups to cows actually present. 

SUFFICIENCY OF MALES FOR IMPREGNATION. 

Only two full-grown bulls and one younger bull attended to the needs of this 
rookery. Of the grown bulls the larger and apparently the older bull had the 
greatest attraction in the eyes of the cows, as most of the .526 females belonged to 
his harem. I do not believe that more than a dozen cows were the legitimate 
property of the vounger bull. Notwithstanding the demands of so great a harem 
upon the older bull, he was in fit condition to keep the younger bull at a respectful 
distance as late in the season as July 30. This rookery is said to have had 5 bulls 
in 1895. It had last year 6. For 526 pups to have been born on this rookery in 
1S97 the six bulls in 1896 must have been sufficient to impregnate at least 750 
cows, as a number of the latter were undoubtedly killed during the pelagic sealing 
of the fall of 1896 and spring of 1897, besides those perishing from other causes 
during the winter migrations. This must set definitely at rest any fears that 
may have been entertained respecting the sufficiency of the male element now 
doing duty on the North rookery of Bering Island. It also shows how baseless 
must be the contention that a dearth of male life has been in any way responsible 
for the decrease of seal life on the Pribilof Islands. 

COPPER ISLAND. 

Glinka rookeries. — On account of the lack of means of transportation, I was 
unable to reach the Glinka rookeries until August 20. A detailed and conclusive 
comparison of these rookeries with their condition in 1895 and 1896 is out of the 
question, but from such observations as I was able to make I have no hesitation 
in saying that the year 1897 shows some decrease, though not nearly so great as 
that on Bering Island. The diminution was particularly observed on the south 
end of Zapadni rookery; at Palata, where the seals had almost abandoned the brow 
of the clayey bank; on the north gully at Zapalata, where I noted a falling off both 
at the western and middle portion of the eastern end, and at Urili Kamen, where 
the middle portion seems to have disappeared. 

DEATH OF PUPS, SOUTH ROOKERY, BERING ISLAND. 

Up to the end of our stay at South rookery (July 30) no startling mortality 
among the pups was visible. Such as had died must have been eaten by the blue 
foxes. During our stay only 3 dead pups were seen. These were exceedingly 
emaciated, and this with the characteristic tarry faeces clearly showed starvation 
to be the cause of death. In addition to these,'we noticed a few pups weak, as if 
starving. 

GLINKA, COPPER ISLAND. 

At Glinka on August 20 I saw a great number of decayed carcasses of young 
pups, probably a hundred or more, between Zapadni and Sabatcha Dira, which 
had apparently been dead a long time. Only a few bodies were fresh, and these 
appeared to have starved. Only a few were seen in a weak condition and one in 
an advanced state of starvation. 

NORTH ROOKERY, BERING ISLAND. 

On September 27 I was able to visit for a few hours North rookery, on Bering 
Island, to study further the mortality of pups. I counted the dead pups which 
lay in windrows about the " sands," and found 429 comparatively fresh carcasses, 
and 143 old ones, making in all 572. The fresh pups were rather large, black ones, 
with a large portion of gray ones. They showed every indication of having starved 
to death. "A few dying gray pups, lean and helpless, crawling about on their bel- 
lies, were seen. 

* Having completed the count of the "sands,"' I proceeded to count the remaining 
portion of the rookery, but was stopped by the guard and ordered to leave the 
rookery, an order which I could not but obey. This is but a repetition of my 
former experience, twice. before reported upon, and emphasizes the strange reluc- 
tance the authorities of the Commander Islands have shown at having their side of 
the seal question j)roperly investigated and elucidated. 

So much is certain, however, that there has been in 1897 a considerable mortal- 
ity among the pups on North rookery of Bering Island, due to starvation. 



37 

THE LAND CATCH. 

As might be expected, the land catch of the Commander Islands was consider- 
ably smaller this year than for the season of 1896, the totals being, respectively, 
11,335 and 13,516. The falling off was greatest on the Bering Island rookeries and 
Karabelni. No decrease in the Glinka rookeries took jilace, owing to an nnnsnal 
activity in killing seals from boats at places where no killing was formerly thought 
possible. The driving, as will be seen from the accompanying tables, was con- 
tinued throughout August and a part of September. It will be noted that if the 
killing had been stopped on August 1, the total Commander Island catch would 
only have been 6,633 skins. Nothing could better illustrate the straits to which 
these rookeries have come. 



Statistics relative to the fiscal catch on the Commander Islands, summer of 1S97. 
BERING ISLAND DRIVES, NORTH ROOKERY. 



a Of these 10 wei'e stagy. 



b Twenty-three stagy. 
SOUTH ROOKERY. 



No. of 
drive. 


Date 
{new- 
style). 


Locality. 


Bache- 
lors. 


Cows. 


Total. 


1 


1897. 
July 12 

July 27 

July 28 
Aug. (5 
Aug. 12 

Aug. 21 

Aug. 26 

Sept. 7 


Sivutchi Kamen 


60 

186 

183 

775 

189 

732 

930 

216 

.519 

181 

118 

353 

a 96 

6 233 

cll9 


4 

3 
3 

1 
2 




60 




Reef -.- 


186 


2 


Si viitchi Kamen 


183 




Reef 


779 


3 


do 


191 


4 


do 


725 


5 


do 


921 




Kishotchnaya 


21S 


6 


Reef . 


519 




Kishotchnaya 


181 


7 


Sivutchi Kamen 


118 




Reef 


3;)3 


8 


Sivutchi Kamen.. 


96 




Reef.. ■ 


224 




Kishotchnaya 

Total... 


119 

4,873 











c Seventeen stagy. 



Date (new style). 


Bachelors. 


Date (new style). Bachelors. 


July 14, 1897 


14 
32 

33 
30 
26 
16 


September 7, 1897 


.5 

151 

2 


July20,1897 


Total 

Damaged skins 


August 1,1897 

August 9, 1897--. 


August 34, 1897 

Aiigust38,1897. 


Total 




153 









COPPER ISLAND DRIVES, GLINKA. 



Num- 
ber 
of 
drive. 



Date 

(new 
style). 



1897. 
July 3 
July 4 
July 5 
July 13 
July 18 
July 35 
July 37 
July -2^ 
July 30 
Aug. 3 
Aug. 9 
Aug. 19 
Aug. 30 
Aug. S3 
Aug. 36 



Locality. 



South end of island and other places 

Sikatchiuskaya 

Bahi Podiom ... 

Urili Kamen, Pagani, Sabatchi Dira, Palata. 

Palata 

Sal latchi Dira 

Zapadni, Sabatchi Dira 

Zapalata 

Zapalata. Babi Podiom 

Zapadni, Urili 

Zapalata, Palata. Zapadni, Urili 

Palata 

Zapadni 

Babi Podiom 

Palata 



Total . 



Over 

20 
pounds 



Under 
poundsk^'s'^t 



Full 



3a3 

m\ 

357 

1,071 

63 

rt344 

a 5.54 

449 

321 

343 

208 

47 

64 

33 

19 



Total. 



a39 

634 

258 
1,283 
66 
366 
573 
557 
331 
385 
231 
57 
71 
26 
19 



4.976 



a Including 1 cow. 



38 

statistics relative to the fiscal catch on the Commander Islands, etc. — Continued. 

KARABELNI. 



Num 
ber 
of 

drive 



Date 

(new 

style). 



1897. 
July 4' 
July (i 
July 13 
July -M 
July 26 
Aug. 3 
Aug. 4 
Aug. 6 
Aug. 10 
Aug. 23 



Locality. 



Over Under 

20 7 ' • 

pounds pounds weight. 



Stolp 

do 

do 

do 

...--do 

Bolshaya Bukhta. 

Vodopad 

Stolp 



Total 



Full 



280 

122 

285 

112 

58 

73 

73 

70 

187 

19 



1,288 



Total. 



284 
127 
299 
113 

58 

74 
a 76 

79 
199 

20 



1,329 



a Including 1 cow. 

Summary of Commander Islands and Robben Island catch, summer 1897. 

Bering Island: 

North rookery - ..- 4,873 

South rookery - . 153 

Total --- , 5,026 

Copper Island: 

Glinka rookeries _ _ _ _ 4, 976 

Karabelni.-. -.- 1,329 

Caught in sea-otter nets 4 

Total 6,309 

Commander Islands, total 11,335 

Robben Island 214 

Grand total 11,549 



Appendix III. 

PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS.' 

By Joseph Mukkay. 
HERDING IN THE LAGOON. 

The fence about the lagoon was completed in due time by the young men assist- 
ants left for this purpose and to help in the branding. On September 1 the seals 
were driven from the hauling grounds of Reef, Kitovi. Lukanin, Tolstoi, and 
Middle Hill and kept within the enclosure under close watch until September 7, 
when the fence was opened and they were allowed to return to the sea and to their 
respective hauling grounds, which they did by degrees during the following week, 
many of the animals showing no particular haste in abandoning the enclosure. 

At first the seals gave evidence of feeling the restraint put upon them. They 
patrolled the inside of the fence until they established a beaten path. A few 
climbed over and others found holes under the fence through which they crawled. 
After a day or two, however, the novelty wore off and no further attention was 
paid to the fence. The closest observation during the time of their captivity failed 
to discover anything in their actions or movements that indicated uneasiness or 
suffering of any sort. 

The experiment of holding the seals in the lagoon by means of a fence may 
therefore be considered entirely successful. I never doubted its practicability, 
and the test has removed all possible doubt. I strongly favor the fencing of every 
important body of water on the islands, which can be conveniently used for the 
purpose, and the holding in them of the young seals for a month or six weeks in 
the sealing season. 



' A condensation of Colonel Murray's fuller report. 



39 

BRANDING. 

The branding was begun on September 7, at Liikanin Rookery. About 350pups 
were driven up, assorted, and branded during the forenoon, an effort being made 
to make the natives familiar with their work rather than to accomplish large 
results. The natives entered into the spirit of the work, and soon became skillful 
and effective in its various operations. 

On the 8th, getting an earlier start and having two forges running, we branded 
1,017 pups. During the forenoon of the 9th 600 pups were branded on Kitovi, and 
in the afternoon 900 on the Reef. 

Heavy rains interfered with the work until the 14th, when 804 additional pups 
were branded on the Reef. On the 15th work was again interrupted by the rain, 
but on the 16th a third branding of 600 pups and 100 cows was made on the Reef. 

On the 17th we crossed over to Zapadni in boats and branded 600 pups and 8 
cows. The following day 500 pups and 10 cows were branded on Tolstoi Rookery. 

In aP we branded 118 cows and 5,371 pups. I used 2 forges, with 2 men to attend 
each, keeping 6 irons hot. One man carried the irons to and from the forges. 
With 9 active young men to handle the pups 1 found it possible to brand 300 an 
hour without special exertion. 

With an assistant and a duplicate set of forges and men 5,000 pups a day could 
easily be branded, or in twenty working days 100,000 pups, which is nearly double 
the number of female pups at present on the islands. So far as the labor is con- 
cerned, the branding of all the female pups each year is entirely possible. It is 
simply a matter of time and men. 

BRANDING DOES NOT IN.JURE THE ANIMALS. 

It is evident that the branding does not injure the animals. The adult cows 
branded last year were seen in good condition and with their pups on the rook- 
eries this year. The pups branded last year were also to be seen in numbers hale 
and hearty on the hauling grounds and rookeries. The salt water helps rather 
than hinders the healing of the wound. Neither pups nor adult cows are driven 
from the islands by the operation of branding. 

The most difficult part of the work is the driving of the pups and the sorting 
of the sexes. This requires men and careful supervision, but this is all. The 
pups stand the handling well. Of the number handled this season, which must 
have exceeded 10.000, only one pup was killed. 

The appearance of the branded cows, as well as of the yearlings, shows clearly 
the effectiveness of the brand to depreciate the value of the skins. Each brand 
mark stands out bare and clean, not a trace of fur having come to replace that 
which was burned. 

I am well satisfied that in the plan of herding the bachelors and branding the 
female seals has been struck the keynote of the whole situation. Carried to their 
logical conclusion, these methods will forever settle the vexed question of pelagic 
sealing. 

THE DEATH TRAPS. 

The afternoon of the 17tli of October was spent in loosening and rolling stones 
into the gullies on Zapadni. The afternoon of the following day was similarly 
employed on the sand flat of Tolstoi rookery, which was covered with bowlders 
weighing from one hundred pounds to two tons each, as far out as the angle of the 
beach turning toward Middle Hill. The long gully in Zapadni, on which so many 
dead pups were found, was covered in a similar manner with bowlders of such 
proportions as to warrant their permanency. As occasion offers I shall continue to 
cover the death traps, drain the sinks, and otherwise improve the rookeries where 
possible. 

DEAD PUPS. 

On the 15th of October I made a coiint of the pups on Lukanin and Kitovi rook- 
eries which had died since the middle of August, when, under Mr. Lucas's direction, 
all the earlier dead pups on these rookeries were carefully removed. 

I found on Lukanin rookery 542 dead bodies, and on Kitovi 515, or a total of 
1,057 pups for the two rookei'ies which had starved to death. 



40 



Appendix IV. 

THE CONTROL AND PROTECTION OF THE SALMON STREAMS OF 

ALASKA. 

, By DAVii) Stark Jordak and C. L. H()oi>ei<. 

In going to the Pribilof Islands for the work of 1897 I was given, by the cour- 
tesy of the United States Fish Commission, transportation on the steamer Alba- 
tross, Capt. J. F. Moser. This vessel was engaged in the study of the salmon 
rivers, and hy its means I was enabled to give some special attention to the prob- 
lem of the preservation of the salmon, as well as to that of the sea otter. My 
views in regard to the sea otter are fully expressed in the recent excellent report 
of Capt. C. L. Hooper. I need only say that my own observations simply tend to 
show the thoroughness with which he has done his work. 

In response to the request of Hon. W. B. Howell, Assistant Secretary of the 
Treasury, I have combined my own observations on the problem of salmon pro- 
tection with those of Captain Hooper, in the form of the following joint letter 
from Captain Hooper and mj'self to Mr. Howell: 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Washington, D. C. , November 4, 1897. 
Hon. W. B. Howell, 

Assistant SecTetary, Treasury Department, Washington, D, C. 
Dear Sir: In response to your verbal request, permit us to give our views as to 
the proper management of tlie salmon rivers of Alaska. They are as follows: 

1. We strongly indorse the recommendations of Governor Brady that provision 
should be made for a commission to codify the statutes of Alaska. 

2. The statutes relating to the salmon and salmon fisheries should ])ecome part 
of this code, 

3. The present statutes governing salmon fishing are good as far as they go. 

4. In deference to the opinion of those who observe Sunday as a day of rest or 
worship, the period in each week in which the rivers are closed to fishing should 
include Sundaj^ rather than a day recognized as secular. 

5. The present exception of the tributaries of Bristol Bay from the requirement 
of a closed period is wise in view of the extreme shortness of the season there. 

6. The chief inadequacy of the present statutes is that they secure no rights to 
the owners of the cannery properties and require no duties of them. These com- 
panies are virtually squatters on G-overnment land. They have no exclusive rights 
in the salmon rivers near which they are built. 

7. As a result of this they have no permanent interest in the preservation of the 
salmon rivers. They have no incentive to preserve or improve them. In case of 
valuable streams, the company in possession is forced to be constantly on its 
guard to maintain its advantages of possession. It is often necessary to work nets 
continuously day and night through the season to prevent others from taking 
possession of the beaches adjacent to its canneries. This action is wasteful, 
depleting the body of salmon, and it has been continued at times even though the 
canneries can make no use of the fish taken. 

8. Such a condition of anarchy provokes dissensions among the owners and 
managers of canneries. It leads to constant complaints and recriminations, and 
in some cases even to bloodshed. ' 



' The present statutes prohibit the setting of a net v/ithin a certain distance of 
one alreadj' in the water. But there is nothing to prevent a small steamer from 
crossing the lines of a net and casting anchor, then steaming away dragging the 
anchor through the net with intent to tear it to pieces. Nor can the statutes pre- 
vent the owner of the net from hauling it up by means of a steam winch, drawing 
in the vessel by means of its anchor and throwing it up on the beach. Such con- 
tingencies, which are not imaginary, do not favor the orderly conduct of this most 
important industry. 

The following article, from the San Francisco Chronicle of November 12, 1897, 
indicates a case in point. Without prejudice to either side, I may say that, being 
present at Karluk when the difficulty began, I do not suppose that the facts are 
impartially stated in this paragraph, which I introduce solely as an illustration of 
a condition which I believe to be unfortunate and menacing to good order: 

' ' The superior court was called upon yesterday to settle a dispute over valuable 



41 

9. The inability to secure exclusive rights and privileges has led to the building 
of twice as many canneries as can be profitably worked. 

10. The present overfishing of the salmon rivers is diie chiefly to the absence of 
any legally recogiiized rights or duties on the part of the cannery companies. 

11. In our judgment each packing company should have the exclusive right to 
take salmon m the streams adjacent to which it stands and along the beaches for 
a distance (say one- fourth mile) on each side of the mouth of the stream, 

12. This privilege should be in the form of a lease, and it should hold good for a 
term of years (as 10. 12, or 15), unless in the judgment of the Secretary of the 
Treasury the provisions of the lease have been violated. 

13. The lease should require («) that the statutes forbidding obstructions, etc., 
in the rivers should not be violated; (b) that the native people should not be 
excluded from the fishing necessary to their sustenance. 

14. To these may be added the maintenance of a hatchery of adequate capacity. 
It is better, however, that such hatcheries should be owned and managed by the 
United States Fish Commission. 

15. In return for these privileges, each cannery or salting establishment should 
pay annually a certain sum as rental. 

16. This sum may be a certain tax on each case of salmon packed or on each 
package of salmon salted or smoked. Or it might be a lump sum annually, pro- 
portioned to the output of the river or to the capacity of the cannerj'. 

17. It would seem to be undesirable that the cannery or similar companies should 
acquire absolute title to land at the mouth of any salmon river. 

18. It seems desirable that no additional canneries or salting establishments be 
built in Alaska except by permission of the Secretary of the Treasury. 

19. Provision should be made for the proper protection of salmon breeders who 
may have established hatcheries on small streams for the purpose of selling the 
increased output to the canneries. 

29. The proprietj' of the present custom of placing inferior or injured cans of 

fishing rights in Alaska. The matter was presented through a suit commenced 
b3^ the Pacific Steam Whaling Company to recover §100,000 damages from the 
Alaska Packers' Association. Sensational charges are made in the complaint, arid 
owing to the prominence of the two corporations and the magnitude of the inter- 
ests involved the case promises to attract more than an ordinarj' amount of public 
attention. 

••It appears from the complaint that the Pacific Steam Whaling Company has 
for a number of years maintained an extensive plant for the taking of salmon at 
the mouth of the' Karluk River and along the Karluk beach on Tanglefoot or Kar- 
luk Bay. The corporation claims to have been seriously interfered with in this 
year's fishing by employees of the Alaska Packers' Association, the corporation 
defendant. It is on account of such interference that the whaling company now 
demands damages. 

' ■ The trouble between the two corporations is described as having commenced 
in July last, when the fishing season was at its height. A charge is made that, in 
order to prevent the taking of fish by the employees of the plaintiff, agents of the 
defendant corporation had resort to force and the use of firearms. 

' ' It is the theory of the Pacific Steam Whaling Company that the fishing grounds 
at Karluk are public property. The company avers, therefore, that an exclusive 
fishing right or o\\Tiership cannot vest in any one corporation or individual. Such 
a right and ownership are asserted by thedefendaut corporation, and hence the 
dispute which has now given rise to litigation. 

" The complaint tells of an occasion early in July when the employees of the 
plaintiff company were interrupted while drawing a seine. They were told to 
desist, and at the" same time thejr attention was called to a formidable array of 
firearms in the hands of a numbef of Packers' Association employees, who had been 
posted on a bluff which overlooked and commanded the entire beach. On a sub- 
sequent date in the same month the drawing of another seine of the plaintiff com- 
pany was prevented by agents of the defendant, who are said to have connected 
the seine bj' cable to a steam winch. 

"Feeling between the two companies reached its highest point on July 28th. 
Several steam schooners of the whaling company on that day dropped anchor in 
the bay just off the beach. Employees of the packing company promptly ordered 
the vessels removed. The men in charge of the vessels refused to move, and then, 
according to the complaint, the packers' crew attempted to wreck the vessels by 
tripping their anchors on seines and dragging them ashore. This attempt failed, 
but the vessels sustained serious injury in consequence of the seines becoming 
entangled in the propellers." 



42 

salmon on the market (known as ' • duos ") as the output of canneries or companies 
having no existence and to which imaginary names are given sliould be ques- 
tioned. Such methods tend to injure the high reputation of the Alaska salmon 
pack. 

31. The pack of each of the different species of salmon should be sold under its 
own recognized trade-mark — King Salmon (Tyee or Quinnat),Red Salmon (or 
Sugkegh), Silver Salmon (or Coho), Pink Salmon (or Humpback), Steelhead 
Trout. This distinction is at present in general honestly made, the output bear- 
ing the recognized names of existing companies and being for the most part 
what it pretends to be. 

Concerning the work (3f the inspectors of salmon fishing, we have the following- 
suggestions to make: 
23. At present this work is virtually ineffective for the following reasons: 

a. The appointees in general have been men who know little or nothing of the 
problems involved which demand expert knowledge of (1) salmon, their kinds 
and habits; (3) the methods of fishing, and (8) the conditions and peculiarities of 
Alaska. For effective work special knowledge is requisite, as well as general 
intelligence and integrity. 

b. These men are largely dependent upon the courtesy of the packing companies 
(1) for their knowledge of the salmon, (2) for their knowledge of fishing methods, 
(3) for all trcinsportation and sustenance (except in southeastern Alaska), and (4) 
for all assistance in enforcing the law. 

c. The inspectors can not go from place to place at need and so spend so much 
of their time in enforced inaction. 

(d) They have no authority to remove obstructions or to enforce the law in case 
of its violation. For this reason their recommendations largely pass unheeded. 

32, To remedy these conditions provision should be made — 

(a) For the appointment only of men of scientific or practical training, thor- 
oughly familiar with fishes or fishery methods, or both, and capable of finding out 
the truth in any matter requiring investigation. For such purposes expert service 
is as necessary as it would be in bank inspection or in any similar specialized work. 
(6) The Deijartment should provide suitable transportation facilities for its 
inspectors. It should be possible for them to visit at will any of the canneries or 
salmon rivers under their charge. They should be provided with means to pay 
for expenses of travel and siistenance, and should receive no financial courtesies 
from the packing companies or be dependent upon them for assistance in carrying- 
on their work. 

(c) The inspectors should be instructed to remove and destroy all obstructions 
found in the rivers in violation of law. They should have large powers of action 
and discretion, and they should have at hand such means as is necessary to carry 
out their purposes. 

Very respectfully, yours, David Starr Jordajj, 

Commissioner in Charge Fur-Seal Investigations. 
C. L. Hooper, 
Commaitding Bering Sea Patrol Fleet. 



Appendix V. 

AFFIDAVITS OF DYERS AND DRESSERS OF FUR-SEAL SKINS. 

The following affidavits of dyers and dressei's of fur-seal skins, submitted to the 
conference of fur-seal experts, may here be placed on record: 

Queen Street, London, E. C. 

I, Geo. Rice, of the city of London, England, make oath and say that I carry on 
the business of a dyer and dresser of furs and seal skins in this city ; that 1 have 
been engaged in the seal-skin trade for over thirty years and have personal and 
]3ractical experience in the various processes of dressing and dyeing skins; that I 
employ 500 men in my business; that of the seal skins that have been taken in the 
waters of North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea by sealing vessels I have dressed 
or dyed skins of the pelagic catch of 1894, 85,000 skins; 1895, 70,000 skins; 1896, 
50,000 skins. 

That I personally and through my expert employees have had every opportunity 
of examining these skins; that a part of them, being those of pups or young seals, 
are not with certainty distinguishable as to sex, but the greater portion of the 



43 

skins can be readily determined: that of these latter, embracing the pelagic catches 
of 1894, 1895, NO per cent, and of 1896, 70 to 80 per cent, were the skins of females; 
that of the skins of adult seals in these catches, the skins of males were rarely found. 
I fiirther say that I make this declaration in the interest of truth and for the 
information of those wno are concerned in making regulations for the preservation 
of the seal herd, and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the 
same to be true. 

Geo. Rice. 

Sworn to at '• The Elms," Edmonton, in the county of Middlesex, this 26th day 
of October, 1897, before me. 

Alfred Hodgkinson, ' 
A Covimissioner for Oaths. 

1. Edmund Wischhusen, of 138 New North road, Islington, in the county of 
London, seal dresser and unhairer, solemnly and sincerely declare as follows: 

1. I have been engaged in the seal-skin trade for over thirty -five years. I have 
actually worked on seals for the last forty years, and on the Bering Sea seal ever 
since they have been brought to market. I have had personal and practical exi^e- 
rience in the various processes of dressing and unhairing seal skins during that 
period, I have been regularly employed as an expert by the largest fur merchants 
in London to examine the skins as they arrive from the pelagic sealers, at Messrs. 
C. M. Lampsons & Sons', of 64 Queen street, in the city of London, at the Hudson 
Bay Company's premises in Lime street, and at Mes.srs. Culverwell & Brooks, at St. 
Mary Axe. These are the only firms to whom seal skins have been sent for sale 
during the last few years. I inspect them in order to determine the quality and 
condition of the skins, and it is my business to report to the merchants from time 
to time the quality of the skins, and the merchants act on my report. From my 
per.sonal inspection in this way I am able to saj- that fully 80 per cent of the skins 
which have arrived from the pelagic sealers during the last three years are the 
skins of female seals. Of the 185,000, or thereabouts, of the pelagic northwest catch 
of 1894, fullj' 120,000 came under my notice and were examined by me: and of the 
102,000, or thereabouts, of the like catch of 1895 about 100,000 came under my 
notice and were examined by me; and of the 70,000 forming the like pelagic catch 
of 1896, the whole parcel came under my notice and were examined by me. 

2. There is absolutely no difficulty Avhatever in distinguishing the sex of the 
adult seals, as, apart from all other distinctions (and there are several, as, for 
instance, a difference in the size and shape of the head and also in the color), the 
distinction in the breasts is very marked, those of the females being very large and 
prominent and those of the males hardly distinguishable. It requires no expert 
to distinguish the sex. In most instances the hair round the nipples of the female 
seals has been worn off by the young pups. 

The only reason there is a doubt as to the sex of the remaining 20 per cent of the 
skins is that about this proportion are the skins of very young animals in which, 
the breasts and heads not being fully developed, the sex is not so easily distin- 
guishable, but this only applies to young pups and not in any way to adult seals. 

There is no difficulty whatever in identifying the Bering Sea seals from those 
caught on the coast of Japan and round or in the vicinity of the Copper Islands. 

And I make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to be 
true, and by virtue of the provisions of the statutory declarations act of 1835. 

E. Wischhusen. 

Declared at No. 138 New North road, in the county of London, on this twenty- 
sixth day of October, 1897, before me, 

John Venn, Notary Public, 

Note. — Attached thereto are the official certificates of John Venn, notary pub- 
lic, of the city of London, and Wm. M. Osborne, consul-general of the United 
States, with their official seals. 

I, Walter Edward Martin, of 4 Lambeth Hill, in the city of London, member of 
the firm of C. W. Martin & Sons, of the same place, fur dyers and dressers, sol- 
emnly, sincerely, and truly declare as follows: 

I am a British subject. I have been in the business of dyeing and dressing fur 
seals" skins in London about twenty-five years, and have personally handled many 
hvmdreds of thousands of such skins, and I have in consequence a special knowl- 
edge of seal skins. 

I have at various times made a special examination of the skins of the north- 
west (pelagic) catch of seals (a very large number of which come through my 



44 

firm's hands) with a view to ascertaining whether they are the skins of male or 
female seals, and I say that of the seals caught in the Bering Sea and in the 
North Pacific Ocean by the pelagic sealers fully 80 per cent of them are female 
seals, and I believe a still larger proportion. The remaining 20 per cent are 
mostly skins of young pups in which the sex is not very distinguishable, and a 
few large bulls, not more than about 3 per cent of the entire parcel. 

With.regard to adult seals, there is no difficulty whatever in detecting the skins 
of males and the skins of females. The breasts are very prominent in the female 
seals, and it requires no expert to detect which is the skin of a male seal and 
which the skin of a female seal, and very often round the breasts of the females 
the fur has been worn away. The regulations of the arbitrators, made in August, 
1893, at Paris, with regard to pelagic sealing have not tended to in any way dimin- 
ish the proportion of female seals to males killed by the pelagic sealers, and the 
large majority of the skins of the pelagic catch still bear traces of the seals hav- 
ing been killed by means of shot. 

There can be no doubt whatever that a continuation of the present system of 
slaughtering such a large proportion of the female seals in the open ocean, with 
the consequential death of such a large i^roportion of piips, as is admitted by Prof. 
D'Arcy Thompson in his recent report to be due to pelagic sealing, and the death 
of the mothers, is fast tending to exterminate the seal from the ocean, and that 
unless some steps are promptly taken to stop pelagic sealing, which under the 
present conditions can not be profitable to the sealers, the herd will soon be 
entirely exterminated and destroyed, and I submit that the only means of pre- 
serving the seals from entire extinction is to absolutely put an end to pelagic 
sealing, which it ought not to be difficult to bring about by mutual agreenaent, 
due regard being had to the interests of all parties concerned. 

And I make this solemn declaration, conscientiously Ijelieving the same to be 
true, and by virtue of the provisions of the statutory declarations act, 1835. 

Walter Martin. 

Declared at No. 4 Lambeth Hill, in the city of London, this sixteenth day of 
September, 1897, before me, 

John D. Venn. Notanj Public. 

Note. — Attached thereto are the official certificates of John Venn, notary pub- 
lic, of the city of London, and Wm. M. Osborne, consul-general of the United 
States, with their official seals. 



Appendix VI. 

THE FUR-SEAL CONFERENCE. 

Since the greater part of the foregoing report was prepared a meeting of the 
representatives of the United States, Great Britain, and Canada, engaged in the 
investigations of the past tVo seasons, was held in Washington and the following 
joint statement of conclusions agreed upon: 

joint statement of conclusions respecting the fur-seal herd frequent- 
ing THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS IN BERING SEA. 

The undersigned, dulj' empowered delegates, engaged during recent years in 
the investigation of the condition and habits of the fur-seal herd frequenting the 
Pribilof Islands in Bering Sea, viz, on behalf of the United States. Charles Sum- 
ner Hamlin and David Starr Jordan; on behalf of Great Britain, D'Arcy Went- 
worth Thompson: on behalf of Canada, James Melville Macoun, have met in 
conference under instructions from our respective Governments. Under these 
instructions we were directed — 

" To arrive, if possible, at correct conclusions respecting the numbers, condi- 
tions, and habits of the seals frequenting the Pribilof Islands at the present tinie 
as compared with the several seasons previous and subsequent to the Paris 
award." 

As a result of such conference, now completed, we, the above-named Charles 



45 

Suinner Hamlin, David Stan* Jordan, D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, and James 
Melville Macoun, find ourselves in accord on the propositions contained in the fol- 
lowing joint statement of conclnsions respecting the fur-seal herd frequenting the 
Pribiiof Islands, and make this our report: 

JOINT STATEMENT. 

1. There is adeqiiate evidence that since the year 1884, and down to the date of 
the inspection of the rookeries in 1897, the fur-seal herd of the Pribilof Islands, as 
measured on either the hauling grounds or breeding grounds, has declined in 
numbers at a rate varying from year to year. 

2. In the absence for the earlier years of actual counts of the rookeries such as 
ha^e been made in recent years, the best approximate measure of decline now 
available is found is these facts: 

(a) About 100,000 male seals of recognized killable age were obtained from the 
hauling grounds each year from 1871 to 1889. The table of statistics given in 
Appendix I shows, on the whole, a progressive increase in the number of hauling 
grounds driven and in the number of drives made, as well as a retardation of the 
date at which the quota was attained during a number of years previous to 1889. 

{b) In the year 1890, 28,964' killable seals were taken after continuing the driv- 
ing till July 27, and in 1897, 19,189 after continuing the driving till August 11. 
We have no reason to believe that during the period 1896 and 1897 a very much 
larger number of males of recognized* killable age could have been taken on the 
hauling grounds. 

The reduction between the years 1896 and 1897 in the number of killable seals 
taken, while an indication of decrease in the breeding herd, can not be taken as an 
actual measure of such decrease. A number of other factors must be taken into 
consideration, and the real measure of decrease must be sought in more pertinent 
statistics drawii from the breeding rookeries themselves. 

3. From these data it is plain that the former yield of the hauling grounds of 
the Pribilof Islands was from three to five times as great as in the years 1896 and 
1897, and the same diminution to one-third or one-fifth of the former product may 
be assumed when we include also the results of hunting at sea. 

4. The death rate among the young fur seals, especiallj^ among the pups, is very 
great. While the loss among the pups prior to their departure from the islands 
has been found in the last two years to approach 20 per cent of the whole number 
born, and though the rate of subsequent mortality is unknown, we may gather 
from the number which return each year that from one-half to two-thirds have 
perished before the age of three years— that is to say, the killable age for the males 
and the breeding age for the females. 

5. The chief natural ■ causes of death among pups, so far as known at present, 
are as follows, the importance of each being variable and more or less uncertain: 

(a) Ravages of the parasitic worm Uiiciiiaria, most destructive on sandy 
breeding areas and during the period from July 15 to August 20. 

(b) Trampling by fighting bulls or by moving bulls and cows, a source of loss 
greatest among young pups.^ 

(c) Starvation of pups strayed or separated from their mothers when very 
young or whose mothers have died from natural causes. 

(d) The ravages of the great killer (Orca), known to be fatal to many of the 
young and perhaps also to older seals. 

At a later i;)eriod drowning in the storms of winter is believed, but not certainly 
known, to be a cause of death among the older pups. 

6. Counts of certain rookeries, with partial counts and estimates of others, show 
that the number of breeding females bearing pups on St. Paul and St. George was, 
— • ■ . . 

' The nominal quota of 30,000 for 1896 and of 20,890 for 1897 included food skins 
taken in the fall cf 1895 and 1896. 

- That is to say, not including losses ensuing from the killing of mothers at sea. 

The number of dead pups counted on the rookeries between August 8 and 14, in 
1896, was 1 1,045. It is recognized that this number is an underestimate, inasmuch 
as a greater number must have been overlooked than were counted twice. It is 
also recognized that the great majority of these pups died from the attacks of the 
worm Uiicinaria. 

■'• The importance of this source of loss we now find to be much less than was 
supposed to be the case from the investigations made in 1896. (See Reports for 
1896, Jordan, p. 45; Thompson, p. 20; Macoun, MSS.) 



46 

in 1896 and 1897, between 160,000 and 130,000, more nearly approaching the higher 
figure in 1896 and the lower in 1897.' 

7. On certain rookeries, where pups were counted in both seasons. 16,341 being 
found in 1896 and 14,318 in 1897, or applying a count adopted by Professor Thomp- 
son, 14,743 in the latter year, there is evident a decrease of 9 or 13 per cent within 
the twelvemonth in question. The count of pups is the most trustworthy meas- 
ure of niimerical variation in the herd. The counts of harems, and especially of 
cows present, are much inferior in value. The latter counts, however, point in 
the same direction. The harems on all the rookeries were counted in both seasons. 
In 1896 there were 4,933; in 1897 there were 4,41 8, a decrease of 10.41 per cent. The 
cows actually present on certain rookeries at the height of the season were counted 
in both seasons. Where 10.198 were found iij 1896, 7,307 were found in 1897, a 
decrease of 28.34 per cent. - 

8. It is not easy to apply the various counts in the form of a general average to 
all the rookeries of the islands. We recognize that a notable decrease has been 
suffered by the herd during the twelvemonth 1896 to 1897. without attempting, 
save by setting the above numbers on record, to ascribe to the decrease more pre- 
cise figures. 

9. The methods of driving and killing practised on the islands, as they have 
come under our observation during the i^ast two years, call for no criticism or 
objection. An adequate supply of bulls is present on the rookeries; the number 
of older bachelors rejected in the drives during the period in question is such as to 
safeguard in the immediate future a similarly adequate supply; the breeding bulls, 
females, and pups on the breeding rookeries*are not disturbed; there is no evidence 
or sign of impairment by driving of the virility of males; the operations of driving 
and killing are condiicted skilfully and without inhumanity. 

10. The pelagic industry is conducted in an orderly manner and in a spirit of 
acquiescence in the limitations imposed by the law. 

11. Pelagic sealing involves the killing of males and females alike, without dis- 
crimination and in proportion as the two sexes coexist in the sea. The reduction 
of males eifected on the islands causes an enhanced proportion of females to be 
found in the pelagic catch; hence this proportion, if it vary from no other cause, 
varies at least with the catch iipon the islands. In 1895 Mr. A. B. Alexander, on 
behalf of the Government of the United States, found 63.3 per cent of females in 
the catch of the Dora Sieimrd in Bering Sea, and in 1896 Mr. Andrew Halkett, on 
behalf of the Canadian Government, found 84.3 in the catch of the same schooner 
ill the same sea. There are no doubt instances, especially in the season of migra- 
tion and on the course of the migrating herds, of catches containing a very dif- 
ferent proportion of the two sexes. 

13. The large proportion of females in the pelagic catch includes not only adult 
females that are both nursing and pregnant, but also young seals that are not 
pregnant and others that have not yet brought forth young, with such also as 
have recently lost their young through the various causes of natural mortality. '■'' 

13. The polygamous habit of the animal, coupled with an equal birth rate of the 
two sexes, permits a large number of males to be removed with impunity from the 
herd, while, as with other animals, any similar abstraction of females checks or 
lessens the herd's increase, or, when carried further, brings about an actual dimi- 

^ For detailed account of the census of 1896, see Jordan, Preliminary Report for 

1896, p. 15; Thompson. Report for 1896, p. 19; Macoun, Report. 1896. MSS. For 
a discussion of suggested corrections to the census of 1896, Jordan, Final Report, 

1897. For details of the census of 1897, see Thompson, Report, 1897; Macoun, 
Report, 1897; Jordan, Report, 1897. A correction to be made in the censusof 1896 
arises from the agreed assumption that the total number of breeding females was 
1.75 times the number seen in the height of the season. Later observations show 
that the actual total is at least tv^ace the maximum number ever seen at once on 
a rookery. 

■■^ The extreme irregularity of the number of cows present on the rookeries from 
day to day and the consequent invalidity of any comparison of their number is 
shown by the counts made on Lukanin and Kitovi rookeries diiring the season of 
1897. See Appendix II. 

^Statements on which to base an estimate of the relative numbers of these 
several classes are necessarily incomplete, but the following notes may serve as a 
partial guide: 

Townsend, Report 1895, pp. 46, 47. 

Alexander, Report 1895, pp. 143, 143. 

Macoun, Report 1897, MSS. 

Lucas, Report 1897, MSS. 



47 

nution of the herd. It is equally plain that a certain number of females maj- be 
killed without involving the actual diminution of the herd, if the number killed 
do not exceed the annual increment of the breeding herd, taking into considera- 
tion the annual losses by death through old age and through incidents at sea. 

14. While, whether from a consideration of the birth rate or from an inspection 
of the visible effects, it is manifest that the take of females in recent years has 
been so far in excess of the natural increment as to lead to a reduction of the herd 
in the degree related above, yet the ratio of the pelagic catch of one year to that 
of the following has fallen off more rapidly than the ratio of the breeding herd of 
one year to the breeding herd of the next. ' 

15. In this greater reduction of the pelagic catch, compared with the gradual 
decrease of the herd, there is a tendency toward equilibrium, or a stage at which 
the numbers of the breeding herd would neither increase nor decrease. In con- 
sidering the probable size of the herd in the immediate future, there remains to 
be estimated the additional factor of decline resulting from reductions in the 
number of surviving pups caused by the larger pelagic catch of 1894 and 1895. 

16. The diminution of the herd is yet far from a stage which involves or 
threatens the actual extermination of the species, so long as it is protected in its 
haunts on land. It is not possible during the continuance of the conservative 
methods at present in force upon the islands, with the further safeguard of the 
protected zone at sea, that any pelagic killing should accomplish this final end. 
There is evidence, however, that in its present condition the herd yields an incon- 
siderable return either to the lessees of the islands or to the owners of the pelagic 
fleet. 

Appendix I. — Statistics regarding land and sea killing. 1S71-18V7. 



Year. 


Date 

quota 
filled, rr 


Hauling 
grounds 
driven, o 


Number 

of 
drives.^/ 


Killed 
on land. 5 


Killed 
at sea. 


1871 


July 38 
July 35 
July 34 
July 17 
July 16 
Aug. Ic 
July 14 
July 18 
July 16 
July 17 
July SO 


46 
43 

I 

55 

36 

44 

54 

71 

78 

99 

86 

81 

101 

106 

117 

101 

103 

110 

87 

(e) 


43 
30 
37 
41 
37 
30 
33 
35 
36 
88 
34 
36 
39 
43 
& 
74 
66 
73 
74 
55 

(e) 

(«?) 


102,960 

108, 819 

109. 177 

110, 585 

106, 460 

94, 657 

84,310 

109.323 

110,411 

105, 718 

105, 063 

99,813 

79, 509 

105, 434 

105.034 

104, .531 

105, 760 

103,304 

103,617 

38,059 

13,040 

7, .511 

7,396 

16,370 

14,846 

38,964 

30,890 


16 911 


1873 


5 336 


1873 


5 339 


1874 


5 873 


1875. 


5,0;33 
5 515 


1876 


1877 -.. 


5 310 


1878 


5 544 


1879 


8 557 


1880 - 


8,418 
10 383 


1881 


1883 - 


15 551 


1883 ... 


July 19 
July 31 
July 37 
July 36 
July 34 
July 37 
July 31 
July 20d 


16 .5.57 


1884 


16,971 
33 040 


1885 -.- - 


1886- 


28 494 


1887 


30,638 
26 189 


1888 


1889 , 


29,858 
40,814 
59, 568 


1890 


1891.. 


1893 - 




46,642 
30.813 


1893- -.-- ..- 




1894 


Aug. 4 

July 37 

do 


61 838 


1895 






56,391 

4:j,917 

/35.079 


1896 


31 

42 


31 
37 


1897 


Aug. 7 





a These figures refer to the hauling grounds of St. Paul. ' 
b These totals include all males killed for any purpose on the islands. 

c In 1K7() the killing was begun at an vinusual date, said to be on account of an exceptionally 
late season, 
rf Closed by order of the agent in charge, 
f Years of the modus vivendi. 
/As reported to date. 

'The catch of the pelagic fleet, Canadian and American, in 1S97 in Bering Sea 
was 16,657 seals. In the summer of 1896 it was 29,500. The aggregate catch which 
directly influenced the herd of 1897 was 38,932, a number made up by adding to 
the summer's catch of 1896 the northwest coast catch in the spring of 1897. Up to 
the present time, accordingly, the pelagic catch already taken (1(5,657) and oper- 
ating directly against next year's supply is 57.22 per cent le.ss than the pelagic 
catch which operated against the supply of 1897 (see. also, Appendix I) : or, if we 
compare merely the summer catches, inasmuch as the possible spring catch of 1898 
is an unknown factor, we have a reduction of 43.46 per cent. 



48 



Appendix II. — Becord of arrival of coics.a 



Date. 



Amphitheater of Kitovi. 



June 13 - 
13- 
14. 
15. 
16- 
17- 
18- 
19- 
30. 
21- 
33- 
33. 
34. 
35- 
36. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
1. 



July 



10. 

11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

30. 

21 

33. 

23- 

34. 

35. 

26. 

37. 

38. 

29- 

30. 

31- 



June 14. 

20. 

30. 
July 8. 



Record of harems. 



Cows 
present. 



33 
37 

45 
56 
76 
105 
137 
168 
310 
246 
290 
362 
414 
499 
518 
550 
.585 
6587 
660 



Date. 



654 
556 
703 
678 
698 
566 
556 
429 
528 
416 
469 
465 
426 
463 
4<36 
304 
414 
427 
375 



Cows 
present. 



Record of harems— Continned. 



July 13. 



Lukanin rookery. 



June 12. 

13. 

14. 

15- 

16. 

17. 

18- 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 

25. 

26. 

27. 

38- 

39- 

30- 
July 1. 
2. 
3- 
4- 
5. 
6. 
7. 



9... 
10 .. 
11.. 
12.- 
13-. 
15.. 
14 c 
15.- 
16.. 
17 . 
18.-. 
19.. 
20... 
21 - 



I 

1 

3 

5 

6 

11 

19 

25 

37 

52 

74 

103 

131 

176 

207 

257 



635 



939 

088 
197 
264 
371 
.531 
.541 
680 
755 



736 
841 
306 
337 
325 
338 
328 
290 
214 
215 
219 
212 
196 
186 
148 
1.57 
177 
149 
127 
124 



aWeather clear; uo storms or surfs, except one day when rain fell, causing a larger number 

of cows to take to the water and making it difficult to distinguish those present from the rocks. 

6 Rain. , ^ ,.■ ^^ 

c After July 14 it became impossible, on account of the scattermg of the cows, to continue the 

count for the entire rookery without too great loss of time, and so a section of 18 harems was 

singled out and the count continued on it. 




LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 



002 894 260 6 



